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WHAT LEADS TO THIS SOURRY STATE
* Outstation farmers reluctant to supply sugarcane unless pending bills are settled
* Apart from their dues, they also want a hike in support price of sugarcane
* Factory management hopes to thrash out the issue of price rise with outstation farmers
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PROCUREMENTS AT A GLANCE
LOCAL (steady rise)
* 48,771 tonnes in 2013
* 57,913 tonnes in 2014
* 58,087 tonnes in 2015
OTHER STATES (Free fall)
* 77,823 tonnes in 2013
* 66,868 tonnes in 2014)
* 42,969 tonnes in 2015
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And to make matters worse, outstation farmers are yet to be fully paid their pending bills and they have now demanded a price hike to supply their sugarcane to the Sanjeevani Sakhar Karkhana (sugar factory).
While the supply of sugarcane by local farmers in the State has steadily risen over the past three years, sugarcane procured from outstation farmers has dropped sharply during the same period.
Local procurement of sugarcane has been 48,771 tonnes (2013), 57,913 tonnes (2014) and 58,087 tonnes (2015).
On the other hand, procurement of sugarcane from other states has dropped from 77,823 tonnes (2013) to 66,868 tonnes (2014) and further plunged to 42,969 tonnes (2015).
Sources have attributed the declining supply in outstation sugarcane to the pending bills which had left these farmers reluctant to send their sugarcane to the Goa factory.
What has added to the concerns of officials at the Sanjeevani sugar factory is that outstation farmers have now demanded a Rs 300 hike in the existing support price of Rs 2,300 per tonne of sugarcane.
When contacted, Sanjeevani Sakhar Karkhana Managing Director Prasad Parab told The Goan that most of the pending bills of outstation farmers have been settled.
“We have been paying them (outstation farmers) Rs 2,300 per tonne of sugarcane in instalments as the amount runs into crores of rupees. In the first instalment, we paid them Rs 1,950 and then, we paid another instalment of Rs 200. Now, only Rs 150 is left to be paid to them and we will do so within a week's time,” Parab said.
“Farmers from neighbouring states have now demanded a Rs 300 hike and want Rs 2,600 per tonne of sugarcane. We will, however, meet these outstation farmers and negotiate the rates,” Parab added.
It may be recalled that Cooperation Minister Mahadev Naik had earlier admitted that the Sanjeevani sugar factory has been running into losses since the last 43 years.
According to Naik, the losses accumulated amount to Rs 74 crore but the minister has indicated his intentions to address the problem by curtailing the expenses.
Production at the Sanjeevani sugar factory is restricted to three months in a year and the factory manufactures about 2 lakh sugar bags of 50 kg each.
