Farmers worried as sugarcane fetches low price

ARIYALUR:  Hit by back-to-back cyclones and severe crop damage, sugarcane farmers in Ariyalur district were hopeful of making some decent bucks as Pongal festival was around the corner. However, now they have been forced to scramble for a decent pricefor their crops as the selling price has dropped further since last year.

The farmers say they retailers and wholesalers buy sugarcane at Rs 10-15 a full-grown piece depending on their quality and height, while they expected it to be Rs 20-25. The crop is cultivated in 500 acres in villages, including Udayarpalayam, T Palur, Ulliyakudi, Aalampallam, Kolaiyanur, Suthamalli, Sundaresapuram, Sripurandhan and Poyyur, in the district. The crop is ready for harvest this week ahead of Pongal.

Already hit by the Covid pandemic, the farmers' woes were doubled by cyclones Nivar and Burevi. And, to make matters worse, the prices of raw materials too had gone up.

After undergoing all these troubles, the farmers expected that the sugarcane would fetch at least Rs 5 more for a full-grown piece than last year. However, to their disappointment, the buyers are purchasing the produce at lower prices.

S Murugesan, a sugarcane farmer from Kolaiyanur, told Express, "This year I cultivated sugarcane in my 30 cents of land by spending Rs 40,000. I expected the crop to be sold for at least Rs 20 to 25 because this year the workload was heavier than last year. But, a private buyer is asking the cane for just Rs 10-11 a piece, which will result in a loss for us this year as well."

The cultivation cost was inflated for V Vignesh from Ulliyakudi as he had to shell out additional cost to labour for fixing the crop damaged by cyclones. "The cultivation cost was low last year. Also, there were no heavy rains last year. In contrast, this year the cost has increased. Adding to that, the crop too was damaged by cyclones. I had to shell out a hefty amount to hire labour for fixing the damaged crop. After all this, now it has become difficult to earn a profit."