Kolhapur : Farmers’ leader and former MP Raju Shetti on Saturday demanded an initial payment of Rs5 ,000 per tonne for sugar cane for the upcoming crushing season, warning that farmers will prevent mills from starting operations if this demand is not met.




Addressing the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana ’s (SSS) 25th sugar cane conference in Kolhapur, Shetti said soaring production costs and severe drought have worsened the financial difficulties faced by farmers.




“Sugar cane to be crushed this season must receive a first instalment of Rs5,000 per tonne. Production costs have skyrocketed, and sugar cane farmers are in deep trouble due to the drought. In such a situation, farmers must get a fair price for their hard work. Sugar factories must announce this initial payout; otherwise, we will not allow them to start the crushing season,” Shetti warned.




He further cautioned that the organisation will indefinitely block national highway traffic at the Kognoli toll booth on the Maharashtra–Karnataka border on October 13 if a favourable decision is not reached during the central government’s scheduled meeting on Oct 12.




Additionally, Shetti demanded that the central and state govts provide sugarane growers a subsidy of Rs500 per tonne to compensate for harvesting delays and reduced sugar recovery during transit. He argued that cane harvested after Dec 15 should receive an extra Rs300 per tonne above the fixed rate.




Citing widespread crop failures and the acute distress faced by farmers and livestock due to insufficient rainfall, the SSS leader demanded that the state govt deposit drought assistance of Rs1 lakh per hectare directly into the bank accounts of affected farmers. He also sought an increase in the incentive for regular loan repayments under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Loan Waiver Scheme , urging it to be raised from Rs50,000 to Rs1 lakh.




Turning his focus to industry transparency, Shetti alleged rampant irregularities in weighing, sugar recovery metrics, and stock transactions at sugar mills. He demanded that every factory’s weighing scale be digitised and linked to a transparent online system.




He noted that declining ethanol production would heavily burden sugar factories with high interest and instalments on project loans, which would ultimately hurt sugarcane farmers. To mitigate this, he sought a full-year interest subsidy and extended repayment schedules for ethanol project loans.




Highlighting that five crore sugar cane farmers and 1.5 lakh workers and agricultural labourers depend entirely on the industry, Shetti demanded a special financial stability policy. He also urged the government to facilitate loans for private and cooperative sugar factories at a concessional 4% annual interest rate through NABARD, the Sugar Development Fund, or the National Cooperative Development Corporation.