BIDAR, 20 NOV

Sugarcane farmers in Bidar on Thursday ended their eight-day protest after a fourth round of negotiations with Deputy Commissioner Shilpa Sharma yielded a breakthrough. Farmers had been staging a continuous sit-in outside the District In-charge Minister’s office, demanding Rs 3,300 per tonne for cane on the lines of the Belagavi model, and had even blocked the national highway as part of their agitation.

The district administration had earlier argued that Bidar’s lower sugar recovery rate made it impossible to match Belagavi’s rates, but three previous meetings failed to end the deadlock. Farmers later insisted that a minimum of Rs 3,100 per tonne must be guaranteed.

During Thursday’s meeting, District In-charge Minister Eshwar B Khandre called from Bengaluru and assured that factories would pay Rs 2,900 per tonne, with an additional Rs 50 State support price, totalling Rs 2,950 per tonne. He also promised to take a delegation of farmers to meet the Chief Minister to discuss their remaining demands. Following this assurance, farmers withdrew their stir, celebrating by waving green shawls.

Farmer leader Mallikarjun Swami told Salar News that Bidar urgently needs a sugarcane research centre, noting that Belagavi has two while Kalyana Karnataka has none. Farmers also demanded a monitoring committee comprising an IAS officer, Food Department officials, a chemist and farmer representatives to prevent manipulation in cane weight and recovery calculations.

Deputy Commissioner Sharma told reporters that sugar factories would be directed to pay Rs 2,950 per tonne and that a proposal on the farmers’ demands would be sent to the government.