Sugarcane farmers are among those badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the wake of the imposition of lockdown, the delay in settlement of dues from the cooperative sugar mills, the shortage in labour to harvest the crop and the difficulty in procurement of crop loans from banks, have hit them hard. Despite a good demand for sugarcane, the current crisis has discouraged them from cultivating the crop for the next season, say farmers.
N. Palanichamy, president of Tamil Nadu Sugarcane Farmers’ Association, said the National Cooperative Sugar Mills has not paid State Advisory Price on sugarcane for a period of two years, totalling ₹9 crore. “It was promised that the arrears would be settled in April, but, unfortunately it did not happen due to the lockdown,” he said.
Also, the cooperative mills at Thanjavur and Perambalur have not paid for 20,000 tonnes of sugarcane supplied by the farmers since January. “Around 1,500 farmers from the district have not been paid for their produce, which amounts to around ₹5.5 crore,” he said.
Against this backdrop, the shortage in labour to harvest the crop, has deepened the crisis for farmers. An official from the Agriculture Department said currently sugarcane was harvested on 340 hectares in the district. This mainly included farmers who had cultivated the crop at the later period of the season.
“I had raised crops on two acres and it was becoming difficult to find sugarcane-cutters to harvest the crop. Due to increased demand for labourers, their wages have nearly doubled and stands at ₹1,200 for harvesting each tonne of cane. It is becoming difficult to handle the crisis and at one point I even thought that I will destroy the crop,” said Karuppiah, a farmer from Valandur in the Usilampatti block in Madurai.
It was also common to see the standing crop left unharvested on many farmlands, said A.M.M. Ambikapathy, a farmer from Pudupatti village near Alanaganallur block.
Besides, it was not easy for farmers to procure crop loans from banks, added Mr. Palanichamy. “Banks often are short staffed and hence are unable to process crop loans for farmers. Due to this, farmers do not have the capital to start cultivation for this season, which usually starts by May,” he said.
T. Vivekanandan, Joint Director of Agriculture, said the officials were issuing passes to labourers, farmers and were taking several measures to facilitate the transport of agricultural produce amidst the lockdown. “Compared to the initial days of the lockdown period, the issue of labour shortage has been addressed to an extent. With the relaxation of lockdown norms, crop loans will be easily available to farmers,” he added.
