Crushing farmers

For decades, sugar mill owners have been known to exploit sugarcane growers by forcing them to wait for weeks before procuring the crop at cheap rates. The practice has become a bona-fide norm in the country, where sugarcane growers keep getting the short end of the stick. Over the last half decade, farmers have begun to resist the practice by leading protests during sugarcane season against the exploitative practices of sugar mill owners. This has forced a number of provincial governments to issue a fixed-price of Rs189 per 40 kilograms for sugarcane. With the government looking serious to enforce the price, sugar mill owners have begun to cry foul.

Millers have used the age-old tactic of delaying the crushing season to force sugarcane growers to buckle. Moreover, millers have begun to mobilise and meet various government officials pleading for an increase in the rate of sugar if they are to pay the government-approved price for sugarcane. Their efforts have included a court case in the Sindh High Court, in which they have claimed that the price notification was ‘unjustified.’

The question now is whether the government will take on the ‘sugar mafia’ in the country to set an example for the future. Daily, sugarcane growers in Punjab’s sugarcane districts dispatch trolley cars full of sugarcane to mills, but they are returned. The cost is borne by the farmers, who cannot be sure whether their cost and labour will be compensated. The Sugarcane Act 1954 bounds sugar mills to start buying sugarcane from November 15, but almost a month has passed without purchase. It should also be clear that the government rate of Rs180 per 40kg is less than the demand of sugarcane growers, who have asked for an increase to Rs220 per 40kg due to increase in the cost of inputs. Not only has the situation led to a decline in the growing of sugarcane in Punjab and Sindh, by 16 and 30 percent respectively, it could also delay the cultivation of wheat, which could have devastating consequences on its own. The longer the delay, the better it is for sugar mill owners, who can fleece farmers at the cheapest rates possible. Mill owners have rejected repeated directives to begin purchasing the crop. It is time for strict government action against this. The exploitation of sugarcane growers during crushing season has gone on for far too long. The writ of the state needs to be seen.