Lok Satta Party backs Cane growers

Expressing its solidarity with the agitating sugarcane growers of Medak and Nizamabad districts, the Lok Satta Party today demanded that factories pay a minimum price of Rs.2500 a ton of sugarcane and clear outstanding dues.

Lok Satta Party leaders took part in a sugarcane growers’ rally at Zaheerabad today.

In a media statement, party leaders Bandaru Ramamohan Rao and V. Vijayender Reddy faulted the State Government for not announcing the State Advisory Price even months after the start of the crushing season. They pointed out that farmers incurred an expenditure of Rs.1200-Rs.1300 a ton on cutting and transporting cane to factories, apart from the cost of cultivation. Although sugar factories minted money on sale of sugar as also byproducts, they did not pay a remunerative price to growers. The State Government’s studied silence is encouraging sugar factories to pay different rates and taking the farmers for a ride.

The Lok Satta Party leaders demanded that the Government ensure payment of a remunerative price and encourage sugarcane cultivation in the interests of both farmers and consumers, instead of importing sugar at prohibitively costly rates.