Sugarcane farmers await subsidy of last year

By Our Correspondent,Sarlahi, Aug. 14: Five months have passed since the sugar industries halted sugarcane crushing as the season was over, but the farmers have not received the subsidy amount yet.

The government had fixed the price of sugarcane at Rs. 635 a quintal for the last Fiscal Year 2023/24. Of that, the sugar mills should pay Rs. 565 to the farmers while the government would provide Rs. 70 as a subsidy.

The crushing season for the sugar factories across the country was closed in February.  Sarlahi's Indushankar Sugar Mill, Hariwan, Mahottari's Everest Sugar Mill, Ramnagar, and Bara's Reliance Sugar Mill, Manharwa were operational till February.  Most of the sugar factories, which were closed soon after not getting enough sugarcane, have already paid the dues to the farmers.

Kapil Muni Mainali, President of the Federation of Sugarcane Producers Association Nepal, said that this time there was no complaint that they did not receive money from the sugar mills. 

But, the Federation was informed that the payment of the previous years was yet to be received from Mahalaxmi Sugar Mill, Bagdah and Annapurna Sugar Mill, Dhankaul in Sarlahi district.

Mainali said that initiatives are being taken to get sugarcane subsidy before the festival season this year – September/October 2024. 

"Last year, we could not get the government subsidy for sugarcane even during the major festivals, so this year we are taking initiatives so that the farmers can get it before the festival season," said Mainali.

Since the government has allocated more than Rs. 2 billion rupees for sugarcane subsidy this year, the Federation is hopeful that the farmers will get the lumpsum amount soon. 

Last year, the government disbursed the funds insufficient to meet the demands, sugarcane subsidy was distributed to the farmers in two phases very late.

The District Treasury Controller Office has collected the details of sugarcane crushing from each sugar mill and sent it to the federal government. 

The Ministry of Finance disburses the subsidy amount based on details of the farmers sent by the Office and the quantity of sugarcane crushing.

Devendra Yadav, Mayor of Sarlahi's Godaita Municipality, said that he was in Kathmandu to draw the attention of the Agriculture Minister about the sugarcane subsidy. 

He said that since farmers celebrate major festivals like Dashain, Tihar, Chhath with the money of sugarcane subsidy, he would return to his home only after informing the minister about the plight of farmers. Yadav is also a sugarcane farmer.