Farmers protest auction of sugar by factory owners

More than 100 sugarcane farmers took out a march to the Salem collectorate and petitioned collector Rohini Bhajibhakare on Tuesday against the factory owners’ move to auction sugar without their co-operation. The farmers and factory owners had been at logger heads after food safety officials seized 45,000kg adulterated sugar during a raid at the auction house last week. Though the auction house was sealed, it was reopened a couple of days ago. Farmers, however, insisted that only pure sugar should be auctioned. “This lead to a verbal duel between the sugarcane farmers and the owners. In a huff, a few farmers, who were on the auction house board, resigned. The owners replaced the empty seats and went ahead with the auction,” said a collectorate official. TNN