Industry minister vows to solve sugarcane farmers’ problem

Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Lekhraj Bhatta vowed to solve problems of sugar mills and sugarcane farmers by the third week of January.
Taking time in the meeting of the National Assembly today, he informed that the sugar mills have been directed to clear their dues. “The government has formed a task force that will submit its report to the government within 15 days,” he said, adding that the discussions have also been held between the representatives of sugar mills and sugarcane farmers. “The mills have been instructed to immediately pay the dues they owe to the farmers.”
He also said that the government is serious regarding the 11-point demands of the sugarcane farmers, whereas it is also facilitating in the purchase and sale of sugar that the mill owners have in their store.
Bhatta also informed the National Assembly that customs levied on import of sugar has been increased by 40 per cent and importation of this commodity has been prohibited to help mill owners sell their stock of sugar.
The lawmakers, on the occasion, also suggested him to seek a long-term solution as the problem between the farmers and mill owners have been recurring every year. Earlier this week, the sugarcane farmers from various parts of Tarai districts assembled and started a stage sit-in at the Maitighar Mandala in Kathmandu to pressurise the government.
The communist government with a comfortable majority is steering the nation, and the farmers are staging the protest against the government that claims to be championing for the cause farmers and labourers.
Agitating farmers claim that Annapurna Sugar Mills needs to pay a total of Rs 500 million, while Mahalaxmi Sugar Mills owes them Rs 210 million. The government has fixed minimum support price for a quintal of sugarcane at Rs 536.56. Of the total amount, sugar mills should pay Rs 471.28 per quintal, while Rs 65.28 is to be paid by the government as subsidy.
Earlier yesterday, during a meeting with sugarcane farmers held at the Industry Ministry, deputy prime minister Ishwar Pokharel, industry minister Lekhraj Bhatta and agriculture minister Ghanshyam Bhusal vowed to clear all the outstanding payment of the sugarcane farmers by January 21. But the sugarcane farmers have demanded to clear 80 per cent outstanding payment by January 10 and the remaining 20 per cent payment by January third week.
According to sugarcane farmers, the mills are yet to clear outstanding payments for the past five years amounting to Rs 1.33 billion. The farmers have yet to recover Rs 420 million from Shree Ram Sugar Mills, Rs 400 million from Annapurna Sugar Mills, Rs 200 million from Mahalaxmi Sugar Mills, Rs 110 million from Bagmati Sugar Mills and Rs 100 million each from Indira Sugar Mills and Lumbini Sugar Mills, the farmers claimed.

Agitating sugarcane farmers stage protest in Kathmandu

Sugarcane farmers from across the country today staged protest at Maitigar in Kathmandu against the delayed payment of outstanding dues from sugar mills.
Organising a protest, they said that they were compelled to start the protests as sugar mills were reluctant to issue almost Rs 1.5 billion pending dues to farmers. Farmers had been staging protests in their respective districts against the delayed payment for their produce has shifted their protest movement to the Capital as the government was reluctant to address their concerns. As their concerns remain unaddressed, farmers not only staged a protest in Maitighar today but also organised a sit-in programme in front of Singha Durbar to pressurise the government.
“The crushing of new sugarcane is soon to start,” president of Nepal Sugarcane Producers Federation Kapil Muni Mainali said, adding that sugar mills have, however, not cleared the payment for last year’s cane to farmers. “We were forced to launch protests in Kathmandu as the government is doing nothing to ensure that farmers get their payments on time.”
Among the various sugar mills, Annapurna Sugar Mill has yet to issue payment worth Rs 50 million, whereas Sri Ram Sugar Mill has not paid almost Rs 420 million since the last three years, they claimed, adding that the Sarlahi-based Maha Laxmi Sugar Mill too has been delaying payments worth Rs 210 million. “Likewise, three Nawalparasi-based sugar factories – Indira Sugar Mill, Bagmati Sugar Mill and Lumbini Sugar Mill – are yet to clear Rs 210 million to cane farmers.”
Mainali also said that Annapurna Sugar Mill, Shree Ram Sugar Mill, Mahalaxmi Sugar Mill and three other sugar mills in Nawalparasi have shut down their operations saying that they will not be able to operate the factories, if they make payment to the farmers.
The sugar mill owners have not paid them since 2013, though they have entered into an agreement, he said, adding that the farmers took to the street demanding the immediate payment to them despite cold and chilly weather. “Factory owners had promised farmers that they will clear their dues in installments but farmers said they cannot trust the mill owners.”
The government has fixed the purchase price of sugarcane at Rs 563.56 per quintal but the sugar mill owners have paid Rs 500 to the farmers, they claim, adding that the mill owners have not been releasing payments to farmers though they have been selling sugar and the demand for Nepali sugar is also increasing in the market.
However, president of Sugar Producers Association Sashi Kant Agrawal said that the domestic sugar mills have not been able to sell their product following huge imports from India and Pakistan two years ago. “The sugar import from India has not stopped yet,” he said, adding that cheaper sugar is entering the country – both legally and illegally – as the Indian government has provided a subsidy of Rs 18 per kg in the export. “Unless the import stops, the sugar producers will not be able to pay farmers due to price difference on imported sugar and domestic product.”
The factories have been running in losses – and are not able to make payment – thus the government needs to prepare a payment schedule for farmers and make payments accordingly to resolve the sugarcane farmer issue, added the president of the association – which claims that there are around 15,000 farmers engaged in commercial sugarcane farming in Sarlahi alone including 100,000 farmers in 15 districts – Agrawal.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies has sent a letter to the Home Ministry today to take action against sugar producers, who have failed to pay farmers.

Producers demand sugar price hike, stops crushing cane

Manufacturers have proposed the government to hike sugar price by atleast Rs 10 per kg, after the government’s move to raise the floor price of sugarcane. They have even stopped crushing the crop opposing the government move. The government has set the floor price of sugarcane at Rs 536.56 per quintal, which has – according to the mill owners – made sugar expensive. They have thus demanded minimum price of sugar to be fixed at Rs 90 per kg.
According to the Cabinet decision last week, sugar factories have to pay Rs 471.28 to farmers for a quintal of cane while the government will pay the farmers Rs 65.28 per quintal as subsidy. However, the manufacturers have rejected to purchase the cane at the government price and asked upward revision of the minimum price.
It has been a month since the sugarcane was ready to be harvested but the standoff have left farmers worrying as their crop have started to dry waiting for the factories to buy and process cane.
"If the government increases the minimum price to Rs 90 per kg from the current price of Rs 70 per kg, we will immediately purchase the cane from farmers and start producing sugar,” according to the sugar producers. "We have stock of 3,000 tonnes of sugar at our warehouse," they said, adding that they have to sell it before they can pay farmers. "Last year, we took a bank loan to pay the farmers and suffered a loss of Rs 200 million after we couldn’t sell the sugar."
They also claimed that the market was flooded with cheap sugar from Pakistan last year and they could not sell their sugar. "Out of 178,000 tonnes of sugar produced in Nepal last year by the 11 sugar mills operating in the country, some 70,000 tonnes still remain to be sold."
The government started fixing the floor price of sugarcane from last year to end the constant confrontation between sugarcane farmers and sugar producers. The government had announced in its budget for the current fiscal year that it would fix the reference prices of key agricultural products to encourage farmers.