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The industry that was producing sugar till April a decade ago now has to face sugarcane shortage in February. Everest Sugar and Chemical Industries (Everest Chini Udyog, Everest Chini Mill in colloquialism) located in Gaushala-1 Ramnagar, Mahottari, has to deal with sugarcane shortage in February when the crossing is supposed to be busy this year.
As compared to a decade ago, the cultivation has decreased significantly, and the industry soon faced a shortage of sugarcane. A decade ago sugarcane cultivation in the district exceeded 15,000 bighas and has been declining for the last four/five years and has now reached a level of 8,000 bighas.
Naresh Singh Kushwawaha, President of Sugarcane Farmers Association Mahottari, says that since the last three years, the industry has gradually eased the payment of sugarcane, and the increased cultivation has now reached eight thousand bighas. Kushwaha remembers that three years ago the cultivation in the district fell to five thousand bighas.
'Farmers are leaving the farm because they don't get the right price for sugarcane and they have to wait for years for payment,' says Kushwaha. However, he says that the farmers' hearts are dying because the price is not set properly.
In the sugarcane crushing industry, sugarcane crushing is done till May, but due to the lack of sugarcane in February, crushing has not been done at full capacity. Surendra Shukla, the general manager of the industry, says that the crushing was started on 26th of November this year.
'We have reduced the capacity for 23 days without reaching the sugarcane, and during this period we had to stop production for 135 hours,' says Shukla, 'today we have been collecting sugarcane for three days and producing sugar only for 10 hours at night.' He says that although a public appeal has been made to give sugarcane to the farmers soon, the supply has not increased much.
The main reasons for the lack of sugarcane for the industry in February are the decrease in cultivation, the farmers getting sugarcane themselves and the industries of different districts buying sugarcane. Kushwaha, the president of the association, believes that the main reason is the decrease in cultivation. "The main thing is the decrease in cultivation, the price of sugarcane is not determined by comparing the price of sugar, the cost of cultivation and the price increase of various goods," says Kushwaha, "this year we demanded that the price of sugarcane should be at least Rs. Last year, the price of sugarcane offered by the industry was 565 per quintal. Apart from this, the government will give a subsidy of Rs 70 per quintal.
Farmers demand that at least the current price increase and the market price of sugar should be taken into account when determining the price of sugarcane. Kushwaha says that because this cannot happen, both the farmers and the industry are suffering. He believes that although the soil and climate of most parts of the district are suitable for sugarcane cultivation, farmers have not shown interest in increasing cultivation due to the price.
