Pongal comes early for farmers as sugarcane procurement gets underway down south

TIRUNELVELI: After an initial delay, the state government has begun procurement of sugarcane for disbursal as part of Pongal gift hampers, and this has delighted farmers in the district to a great extent as they would now receive higher profits than what middlemen would have offered them.

The officials procured 500 cane bundles, each containing 15 stalks, from Papanasam-resident S Krishnakanthan’s one-acre farmland.  “I was offered Rs 22 per stalk and this guarantees me a total revenue of Rs 1.65 lakh for around 7,500 stalks. I had spent around Rs 60,000 for the cultivation, and with the government itself procuring the produce, I need not worry about the payment. Last year, I sold my cane produce to middlemen and received only modest profits,” the farmer said.

He also thanked the officials for arranging mini-trucks for transporting the produce from his farm. “However, they rejected the stalks that were below six feet in height. So, I will harvest them another day,” he added. As many as 28 farmers from Mannarkovil village were engaged on Krishnakanthan’s farm for harvesting the 500 bundles. A Seenivasan, one of the workers said, “We were paid Rs 750 for working from 7 am to 9 pm.” These farmhands receive two weeks of employment in and around Papanasam during cane procurement every Pongal season. 

Stressing on how much relief it was not to have middlemen haggling over their profits, Muthuraj, another farmer, said last time he had to sell his harvest to middlemen for a meagre Rs 18 per stalk. However, Govinda Pandian, who cultivated sugarcane on three acres of farmland, had already taken an advance amount from a middleman before government announced the procurement decision. “Now, I have to make do with the meagre Rs 18.5 per piece they pay me. This is a huge loss for me,” he rued.

Speaking to TNIE, a senior official said the cane requirement of Tirunelveli district with regard to the gift hamper distribution is around 4.75 lakh pieces. “We are procuring a portion of this from Tirunelveli and the rest from Madurai district. The entire requirement of sugarcane for Tenkasi is procured from Madurai as Tenkasi farmers do not prefer cane cultivation,” he added. 

Kasinathan, a functionary of the Tamil Nadu Sugarcane Farmers’ Association in Mayiladudurai, said the purple sugarcane harvest kicks off only after January 10, and this would go on till the month-end. The procurement decision of the government will ensure that the farmers will receive decent prices also at the open market during festival sales.

Meanwhile, a section of farmers in Madurai felt they would have got better profits at the open market if the government had announced the procurement decision before the harvest season. “When the season began, we had to sell each load for Rs 3,000 (Rs 10 per piece) at the open market. So, even after spending Rs 1.5 lakh for cultivation, we could not make any profit. After the recent gift hamper announcement, the price has moderately increased,” said Stalin, a farmer from Madurai.

(With inputs from M Thanaraj @ Madurai)