Why Sugarcane Farmers in Andhra Pradesh are Unhappy?

The cultivation of sugarcane is an expensive one, requiring an input of Rs. 15,000 per acre. Moreover, the input expenditure is increasing day by day - in all realms of cultivation, harvesting and transporting of the crop.

This has led to immense disappointment for the farmers belonging to the north coastal district of Andhra Pradesh, including Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Parvathpuram (Manyam).

The harvesting of sugarcane is already a cumbersome affair for the farmers along with transporting the harvest for processing to the factories. The farmers belonging to the north coastal Andhra Pradesh previously hired workers for the purpose of the sugarcane harvest. These workers belonged to Tuni and the neighboring areas in the East Godavari district.

However, there is an increasing shortage of skilled workers in the region and farmers are now forced to hire local laborers for the same. The monthly wages of the laborers for sugarcane cutting have also been increased to Rs. 22,000 per acre. This is, however, not the only expenditure that is incurred. The farmers also have to pay an additional price of Rs. 7000 per acre of produce while taking the sugarcane produce to the factories for processing.

Expected produce every acre usually rounds up to 25 tonnes. The total investment, therefore, including the input, labor hire, and transportation rounds up to around Rs. 44,000. The government has priced sugarcane at Rs. 2980 per tonne on average. The per acre yield of the sugarcane comes up to 20 tonnes. In favorable and suitable circumstances, the crop in the one-acre extent of land will give a farmer an income of up to Rs. 59,600. Therefore, the profit for the farmer rounds up to around Rs. 15,600 for every acre.

The deputy commissioner for sugarcane cultivation and monitoring the north coastal districts, GVV Satyanarayana was quoted as saying, “Most farmers are keen to grow short-duration crops. These include millets, dry irrigated crops like maize which yield three harvests in a year.”