Coimbatore: The area under sugarcane cultivation hasn’t improved in the district since 2017, when it had shrunk by 50% in the aftermath of the 2016 drought. Farmers cite water and labour shortage, high labour cost, and lack of sugar mills in the district as reasons for the status quo.
As per the data available with the agriculture department, sugarcane was cultivated on 792 hectares in the district in 2016. Following the drought that year, farmers had cultivated the crop only on 401 hectares in 2017. While the area under sugarcane cultivation saw ups and downs in the subsequent years, the same stood at 400 hectares last December.
Pointing out that an annual rainfall of 1,500mm to 2,000mm was required for sugarcane cultivation, Dr Bakshi Ram, director of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, said the district had started receiving good rainfall only from 2019 after recording insufficient monsoon showers for a few years.
He said, “A lot depends on farmers’ interest as well. As there are no sugar mills in the district, sugarcane cultivation is not promoted here. Famers can make profit only if the produce is sent to sugar mills.”
Farmers, meanwhile, said they were left with no other option but to transport the produce to the sugar mills at Sathyamangalam or Amaravathi Co-operative Sugar Mills Limited in Tirupur by shelling out huge amounts.
N Murugesan, a farmer from SS Kulam who is cultivating sugarcane on three acres, says it is a labour-intensive crop. “Of late, it has become difficult to find labourers. Most of them don’t want to work in sugarcane fields. And the willing few are demanding higher wages citing difficulties involved in removing the bushes grown in between the closely planted sugarcanes.”
According to him, a woman worker demands Rs 350 per day and a man Rs 600. “We are forced to spend close to Rs 50,000 on manpower and manure alone per acre.”
Pointing out that sugarcane required more water compared to other crops, Murugesan said he had been using drip irrigation to manage with the available water. “But rat menace has increased, damaging the crop. I was told that I could end the menace by supplying more water to the field. But I could not afford to do it because of the water shortage.”
A Velusamy, another farmer from Annur, said the price of sugarcane hadn’t increased in the past few years, while the transportation cost and labour charges had shot up. “Hence, I have limited the sugarcane cultivation to just one hectare from three hectares in the past three years and started cultivating tapioca on the remaining land. Tapioca not only requires less water but also brings good price in the market.”