Bengaluru, Oct 19 Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address sugarcane farmers’ demands urgently to end the ongoing agitation in North Karnataka and facilitate the start of the crushing season.
In a letter to Modi, Shivakumar said the agitation had delayed the start of the crushing season in North Karnataka, leaving mature sugarcane in fields and exposing farmers to losses due to declining cane weight and sugar content.
He said farmers were protesting at various places and taking out padayatras (foot marches) towards Hubballi to gherao the residence of Union Minister for Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi.
Road blockades had been reported at several locations, while the High Court had issued directions restraining the protest at the minister’s residence.
Shivakumar said he had visited Kittur in Belagavi district on October 17 and appealed to the protesting farmers to call off their padayatra.
“The farmers stated that their principal demands concern matters within the purview of the Government of India and that they would not call off the agitation without an assurance from the Government of India,” he said in the letter.
Describing the situation as grave, the CM said the continuing road blockades were disrupting public order and causing considerable hardship to the general public.
He said the state government had taken measures within its jurisdiction to address farmers’ concerns, including installing digital load cells at all 81 operational sugar mills, monitoring sugar recovery and cane weight, and directing mills to secure accreditation from the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) for their recovery-testing laboratories.
According to Shivakumar, average sugar recovery had increased from 9.91 per cent in 2022-23 to 11.09 per cent in 2025-26 following these measures.
The state government had also ensured an additional Rs 100 per tonne over and above the price agreed upon by mills during 2025-26, with the state bearing Rs 50 per tonne from its own funds. About Rs 290 crore had been paid directly to farmers, he said.
“However, the farmers’ core demands can be met only by the Government of India,” he said.
The CM welcomed the committee constituted by the Centre on October 14 under the chairmanship of former NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand to examine issues concerning sugarcane farmers and the sugar sector.
While assuring the Centre of the state’s full cooperation, Shivakumar said urgent decisions were necessary even as the committee continued its work, given the delay in the crushing season.
Among the key demands, he sought an upward revision of the minimum selling price (MSP) of sugar, which has remained at Rs 31 per kg since February 2019, despite the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane increasing from Rs 2,750 to Rs 3,650 per tonne.
“Mills cannot pay a fair cane price at a 2019 sugar price,” he said. He sought separate MSPs for domestic and commercial sugar to protect household consumers while ensuring that bulk commercial buyers paid a fair price.
Shivakumar urged the Centre to review the exclusion of ethanol produced from sugarcane juice, sugar syrup and B-heavy molasses from the procurement tender issued by oil marketing companies on October 16 for the 2026-27 ethanol supply year.
He said Karnataka had an annual cane-based ethanol production capacity of 225 crore litres and warned that excluding these feedstocks could adversely affect sugar mills’ revenue and constrain their ability to make timely payments to farmers.
He sought a fair allocation for ethanol production from cane-based feedstocks in proportion to mills’ installed capacity and an upward revision of ethanol prices. He said prices for ethanol produced from sugarcane juice and B-heavy molasses had remained unchanged since 2022-23 despite increases in the FRP of sugarcane.
The CM called for restoring the base recovery rate used to calculate FRP to 9.50 per cent from the current 10.25 per cent.
He argued that sugar recovery depended on factors such as soil, climate and the timing of crushing, which were beyond farmers’ control. Consequently, growers in areas with lower recovery rates were unable to receive the base FRP, he said.
“Hence, I request that the base be brought back to 9.50 per cent, so that FRP reflects the farmer’s real cost,” he said.
A clear and timely announcement by the Centre on the demands would help the state government persuade farmers to call off their agitation and allow the crushing season to begin without further delay, Shivakumar said.
“I earnestly request your urgent intervention in the interest of lakhs of sugarcane farmers and the people of Karnataka,” he added.
(PTI News)
