Belagavi, 17 Nov

Sugarcane farmers in Belagavi and Bagalkot districts are increasingly selling their produce to mills in neighbouring Maharashtra, drawn by higher prices and faster payments despite the Karnataka government fixing a procurement price of Rs 3,300 per tonne.

As first reported by Salar News on 27 October in the article ‘Sugarcane farmers prefer M’rashtra mills’, growers say the gap in price and reliability remains decisive. Maharashtra mills are offering around Rs 300 more per tonne, with Bidri Sugar Factory paying Rs 3,614, Dalmia Bharat Sugars 
Rs 3,525 and Bhogavati Sugar Factory Rs 3,653 per tonne. Many Belagavi mills, farmers say, are unwilling to offer even Rs 3,500.

Siddagouda Modagi, State President of the Karnataka Sugarcane Growers’ Association, said farmers are moving away from local mills due to alleged manipulation of cane weight, delayed payments, and instalment-based settlements. “Maharashtra mills offer fair prices and clear payments within 15 days,” he said.

Mill owners, however, attribute Karnataka’s lower prices to reduced sugar recovery. Nirani Sugar Mills chairman and former MLA Muragesh Nirani, who owns four mills, said, “Cane price is fixed according to sugar recovery. Karnataka’s recovery rate is lower than Maharashtra’s, which results in the lower rate.” Maharashtra’s recovery averages around 13 per cent, compared with Belagavi’s 11 per cent.

Farmer groups also blame political ownership of many mills in North Karnataka for chronic payment delays running into hundreds of crores.

Belagavi remains one of India’s largest sugarcane belts, with about 1.5 lakh hectares under cultivation. Of Karnataka’s 77 operational sugar mills, 29 are in Belagavi, including Ugar Sugar Works, Shree Renuka Sugars and Belgaum Sugars.

The dispute led to weeks-long protests across North Karnataka. A settlement was eventually reached at Rs 3,300 per tonne, which most Belagavi farmers accepted, though agitation continues in some districts for a higher price.