Everest Sugar Mills faces shortage of canes

By Our Correspondent,Bardibas, Jan. 22: Sugarcane crushing has been affected at Everest Sugar Mills in Ramnagar, Mahottari due to shortage of sugarcane.

The sugar mills have been facing the problem of 'no cane' for the past 10 days as there was problem in the transportation of sugarcane due to cold wave in the southern part of the sugarcane-producing district.

According to General Manager of Everest Sugar Mills, Surendra Shukla, the factory requires 40,000 to 45,000 quintals of sugarcane daily to operate mills at full capacity. Currently, only 28,000 to 30,000 quintals of sugarcane are supplied. Shukla said that on some days, that supply also drops to 20,000 to 22,000 quintals.

According to him, during Maghe Sankranti, when sugarcane did not arrive, crushing was stopped for 2-3 days. Even after that, there has been no improvement in sugarcane supply. Now, it is necessary to collect sugarcane one day and crush it the next.

Shukla said, "Due to the shortage of sugarcane, crushing could start only after 11 pm on Monday. Since the weather has not improved, there is a possibility of 'no cane' again on Wednesday. Since the mills has not been able to operate regularly, crushing has become expensive. This has led to a decline in sugar production."

Everest Sugar Mills, which started crushing from December 11 with a target of crushing 3.5 million quintals of sugarcane this year and producing 315,000 quintals of sugar, should have crushed more than 1.5 million quintals of sugarcane so far. 

Due to the 'no cane', only 1.37 million quintals of sugarcane has been crushed and 116,450 quintals of sugar has been produced by Tuesday. According to Shukla, there is still enough sugarcane in the pocket area of Everest Sugar Mills.

Initially, it was projected that around 3.1 million quintals of sugarcane, including 2.4 million quintals in Mahottari and 700,000 quintals in Sarlahi, would be produced. 

He said that preparations have been made to crush 3.5 million quintals of sugarcane this year by supplying 400,000 quintals from other areas.

Then there was a cold wave in the southern part of the district. Due to the thick fog and cold winds since the morning, the workers do not want to go out to work. A minimum temperature of 16 degrees is required for cutting sugarcane. 

Naresh Singh Kushwaha, president of the Sugarcane Producers Farmers Association, Mahottari, said that the supply of sugarcane to the sugar mills has not been easy even as temperatures in the sugarcane production area in the morning and night have dropped to 9 degrees.

On the other hand, the sugarcane area, which is decreasing due to inability to get a fair price for the product, is also becoming a problem for the sugar mills, according to Dinesh Mahato, a sugarcane farmer of Gaushala Municipality-10.

Last year, Everest Sugar Mills crushed around 2.94 million quintals of sugarcane in the crushing season and produced 261,406 quintals of sugar.

Indushankar pays about Rs. 600 million

Meanwhile, Indushankar Sugar Industry in Hariwon, Sarlahi has paid Rs. 600 million to sugarcane farmers.

The industry has already paid Rs. 600 million to farmers for sugarcane crushed by January 15, 2025, said Thakur Prasad Nepal, administrative manager of the industry. Indushankar had started sugarcane crushing from December 12, 2024.

Nepal said that the mills is paying farmers within a week of receiving the sugarcane. According to him, the industry has crushed 1.174 million quintals of sugarcane by Sunday.

The industry has set a target of crushing 3 million quintals of sugarcane this year. Farmers are happy after the Indushankar paid them within a week of selling sugarcane this year.

The industry has been providing support to farmers by providing improved sugarcane seeds, soil testing, and other equipment to encourage farmers. Recently, due to the decline in sugarcane cultivation, the sugar industry is facing difficulty in getting sugarcane.

Due to the shortage of sugarcane, the sugar industry has also increased the practice of competing with farmers to buy sugarcane by making timely payments. 

The Annapurna Sugar Industry in Dhankaul and Mahalaxmi Sugar Industry, Bagdaha, of the district are also currently crushing sugarcane.