K. Mallikarjun is a farmer from Mamidigi in Nyalakal mandal. His family has some 20 acres out of which four acres was under sugarcane. Till last year not only Mallikarjun but several farmers like him were a worried lot as they were forced to transport their entire sugarcane to other places like Ganapati Sugars at Sangareddy and Gayatri Sugars at Kamareddy for crushing.
Despite all odds the farmers here opt for cultivating sugarcane as they have been habituated to that for the past several decades apart from having the sugar mill at a reachable distance. Sugarcane is cultivated in some 20,000 acres here with an estimated output of about seven lakh metric tonnes of sugarcane.
The cane farmers are in a happy mood as the Trident Sugars, located at Kottur on the outskirts of Zaheerabad, has restarted activity after several rounds of discussions with the officials. Even sugarcane farmers in this area had staged protests at least on two occasions in the recent past demanding that the government take steps to reopen the factory, which was under lay off for about 14 months.
Under normal circumstances the overhauling of a sugar factory to resume crushing takes about four months. But this time it is expected to be ready to take up crushing by November 25 and for that all arrangements are being put in place. As many as 85 employees were called to rejoin duties and some more ‘seasonal employees’ were expected to join duties by next week. Once functional, the factory is expected to crush about 4 lakh metric tonnes of sugarcane. The remaining would be transported to Ganapati Sugars at Sangareddy and Gayatri Sugars at Madgi and Kamareddy.
“The overhauling process of factory has already started and we are expecting it to be complete by November 25. There will be not much problem even if it is delayed by another one or two weeks. Farmers to the extent of 4 lakh metric tonnes will be relieved from transporting their produce,” Assistant Cane Commissioner K. Rajasekhar told The Hindu.
The fair and remunerative price (FRP) offered at Ganapati Sugars stands at ₹ 3,092 per metric tonne followed by ₹ 3,117 at Gayatri (Madgi) and ₹ 3,227 at Gayatri Sugars in Kamareddy and farmers are expected to deliver sugarcane at the doorstep of the factory.