Palacode sugar mill to start crushing in 10 days

DHARMAPURI:  The Dharmapuri District Cooperative Sugarmill Ltd (DDCSM) at Palacode would begin crushing early at the request of farmers. As per officials from the mill, the crushing of sugarcane will begin on December 21 and authorities are expecting over 1.70 lakh tonnes of sugarcane for crushing.

The Dharmapuri District Cooperative Sugar Mill in Palacode is one of the two sugar mills in the district and it has a total of 38,500 registered farmers. During the last crushing season in March 2022 and over 1.13 lakh tonnes of sugarcane from Dharmapuri were crushed. But this year due to the surplus rainfall, cultivation improved and various farmer outfits had urged the mill to start crushing early.

K Thyagarajan, a farmer from Palacode, said, “Usually the crushing process begins in mid-March, but this year due to the surplus rainfall, the sugarcane cultivation increased. The cultivation area could have expanded over 2500 to 2800 acres roughly. Further, many farmers planted the buds early and hence this is the apt time for crushing.”

Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam president SA Chinnasamy said, “The mill is one of the largest mills in the state and it can crush 6,300 tonnes per month. The government has fixed the prices at `3,126,25 per ton and an assistance fund of `195 which will be allocated to the mills and crushing will begin from December 21. Ahead of this, they will perform stress tests and undertake necessary renovations in preparation for the crushing.”

Cane Development Officer of the DDCSM, P Venugopal said, “While we have affixed a target of 1.70 lakh tonnes, we are expecting more sugarcanes to be bought this year. We will also receive an additional 20,000 tonnes of sugarcane from Kallakurichi and other areas.”