This year too, farmers have been forced to sell sugarcane at a lower price than the minimum support price set by the government and on credit. Traders are buying sugarcane from farmers at 15 to 20 percent less than the minimum price.

 There is also a tendency to not give a loan for a year, even if they have a loan agreement of 15 days to one and a half to two months. While sugar produced from sugar cane, the consumer has to buy it in cash.  

This year, the government has fixed the minimum price of sugarcane at Rs 585 per quintal. Last year it was 565, this year it has been increased by 20 rupees. According to Anup Choudhary, president of Kapilvastu Kisan Sangh, the businessmen are buying from 470 to 495 per quintal. He said that last week he sold 400 quintals of sugarcane for 490 rupees. 

'I planted sugarcane in one and a half bigha by spending cash,' he said, 'I sold it on loan with a monthly rent.' He is also worried because he is not sure whether he will get the payment on time. 

Janakalal Chaudhary, a farmer of Shivraj Municipality-7, Balapur, also complained that he had to sell sugarcane at a price of Rs 115 per quintal less than the government had set. He said that he sold 200 quintals of sugarcane at Rs 470 per quintal.

"If we don't take cash, we can't get it for more than that, that's why I sell it cheaply," Chowdhury said, "We farm by borrowing." But our hard work and income is like a merchant's. The government only sets the price, because there is no monitoring, whatever is done has happened.

The data of the Rashtra Bank has shown a price increase of about 6 percent. "But there is no standard in determining the minimum price of sugarcane, and fixing the price on the basis of yield has caused more harm than relief to the farmers," said Omprakash Kurmi, a farmer of Shivraj Municipality-7. Sugarcane consumption in

district is used only to make Veli. Sugarcane is cultivated in Krishnanagar, Maharajganj and Shivraj Municipalities and Vijayanagar Rural Municipality in the western region. There are more than 40 industries in these 4 municipalities. Sugarcane is cultivated on 3,400 hectares in the district. Productivity is 47.77 tonnes per hectare. 

Lucky Bheli Industry in Balapur in Shivraj Municipality is buying sugarcane at Rs 470 to 480 per quintal, said the owner of the industry, Satyanarayan Badai. He says that he is not aware of the price set by the government.

Similarly, the problem of Baraka farmers is the same. 55-year-old Indradev Kushwaha of Kalaiya-16, Vidyanagar, who is also the central secretary of the All Nepal Sugarcane Farmers Association, has been cultivating sugarcane for one and a half decades. He is not excited this year as he has been doing commercial sugarcane farming in the hope of earning a lot of income. This season he has planted sugarcane in 9 bighas. 

He says that farmers' interest in sugarcane farming is decreasing due to the effect of diseases and lack of fertilizers, the subsidy given by the government in October, not getting the price according to the investment, the old variety being displaced and the new variety of sugarcane not being environmentally friendly. 

Rambhajan Raut Patel, a farmer from Kalaiya-16, Jhitkaiya, a neighbor of Kushwaha, also agrees that the farmers' enthusiasm has decreased due to this reason. He says, 'If fertilizers, subsidies and price management are done, up to 25 quintals of sugarcane can be produced per lot.'

12 to 15 quintals of sugarcane are being produced this year, despite spending 6 to 7 thousand per lot on plowing, Godmel, fertilizers, wages etc. Its price should be less than 9 thousand now. The government has increased the price of last year by 20 rupees per quintal and set a support price of 585 rupees per quintal. Last year it was Rs 565 per quintal. 

According to Kushwaha, the central secretary of the association, 7 to 8 thousand farmers have cultivated sugarcane in Bara and Parsa this year in a maximum of 4 thousand bighas to give sugarcane to Reliance Sugar and Chemical Industries located in Kalaiya sub-24, Sripur, Bara, which is 50 percent for farmers and sugarcane cultivation. There is a decrease of 40 percent in terms of area. 

The sugarcane crushing capacity of this mill is 30,000 quintals per day. Kushwaha said that sugarcane will not be available this year. "The government gives the subsidy for fertilizer in October, which means that farmers cannot sow fertilizer in June and there is also a shortage of fertilizer at that time," he said, "that's why the heart of the farmer is dead." 

Kushwaha says that the government has not even decided on the grant for this year. Last year, the government gave a subsidy of Rs 70 per quintal to the farmers, but this year it has not decided yet. 

The number of sugarcane farmers in the district is decreasing year by year due to the inability of the government to set the price of sugarcane in time and the difficulty of paying the mills for the purchase of sugarcane. Farmers who have been taking cash crops as an incentive are not so satisfied with sugarcane cultivation in recent times.

Deeplal Sah, a farmer of Harsah in Vrindavan, who has been cultivating sugarcane for more than two decades, did not cultivate sugarcane this year. He said that he stopped planting sugarcane due to the problem of not setting the price of sugarcane on time and the owners refusing to give the increased price when they were taken to the mill in Hachuwa Bhar and not getting paid when they said so.

Last year, Baba Baijunath Sugar and Chemical Pvt Ltd in Katharia municipality did not pay the price of sugarcane increased by the government.

The mill bought sugarcane at Rs 540 per quintal. The government raised Rs 25 to Rs 565. But when the mill gave the payment at the rate of 540, it was protested, said Ashok Prasad Yadav, president of Rautahat Sugarcane Producers Association.

"The number of farmers in the district has decreased every year since the price and payment of sugarcane started," he said, "even if the government sets the price, the mill owners are not ready to pay." He claimed to be ready. "We pay the farmers the same price from the day the government sets the price," he said. had done However, sugarcane farmer Ram Wachan Yadav has complained that he has not been paid the additional amount of 25 rupees fixed by the government. Babra, the owner, did not want to give the data about how much amount the farmers are yet to pay. 

President Yadav says that the number of sugarcane farmers was around 7 thousand last year. This year it is reduced to 6 thousand. Farmers complain that the government is not able to fix the price on time. Owned by Golcha Group, Shriram Sugar Mill, which was founded in 2049 and started crushing in 2051, was closed on July 10, 2077 after 26 years of continuous operation. The association says that the number of sugarcane farmers has decreased drastically. 

Sriram Sugar Mill located in Garuda Municipality had 35 crores in arrears since 2071. He closed the mill after paying all dues. But after the Shriram Sugar Mill came into operation, the farmers of the district got excited about sugarcane.

The aim of the mill was to crush sugarcane up to 30 lakh quintals in one season for the farmers of Bara, Parsa, Rautahat. In Rautahat alone, 18,000 farmers cultivated sugarcane in one season. President Yadav said that about 2.8 million quintals of sugarcane were produced at that time. 

Yadav says that the farmers have gradually stopped growing sugarcane after the mill owners started making trouble even at the price set by the government. Baba Baijunath Sugar Mill has been operating for 7 years. But the mill has not been able to crush sugarcane as per the target in any season.