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Thread: Problems of Sugar Cane Farmers and possible solution

  1. #1

    Problems of Sugar Cane Farmers and possible solution

    This year the suger prices are very low and Sugar mills are reluctant to purchase all the sugar cane from farmers. Most farmers are facing difficulty in getting reasonable price for their crop. I was just reading about the Brazil visit of US president and the agreement they have signed for Ethanol as bio-fuel. Brazil is the world leader in Ethanol production from sugar cane juice. Cars in that country run on Ethanol (100% - 24% ethanol). Though in India there is policy of blending petrol with 5% ethanol, however, production is not enough to meet the demand. On the one hand nation is spending lots of money on imported fuel where as on the other hand farmers are having hard time to dispose of their crop at reasonable price. Why the sugar mills are not forced to manufacture ethanol when prices of sugar in international market are low? One wonders which lobby is acting against the interest of sugar cane farmers ?

    Rajendra

  2. #2
    Genuinly good topic to brought in Sir. Hope Mr Pawar get time for it or any FARMER criketer , we shud wait..But ya please keep on puring more solutions.
    "All I am trying to do is bridge the gap between Jats and Rest of World"

    As I shall imagine, so shall I become.

  3. #3

    This sugar aint that sweet

    No an anti-capitalist though, I suspect that it's the sugar lobby that isn't letting farmers reap the benefits of a robust demand.
    Companies which were reporting losses fiscal year after fiscal year and were even facing closures are not just back in black but making hefty profits. Nonetheless, an average farmer is grappling with rising fuel and labour costs besides expensive fertilisers.
    Ethanol production can be encouraged by raising the five per cent limit but would the sugar mills share the profit with the farmer? They haven't had a penchant for the trickle-down theory.
    Gentlemen, you can't fight in here. This is the war room!

  4. #4
    I would request my fellow members to resist indulging in rhetoric and come up with meaningful recommendations.

    Agriculture is responsible for majority of GDP in India. Still, the farmer is teh worst of in India. Why? The government controls production and prices. It interferes with the farmers' ability to make a sound judgement on what to cultivate during the next season.

    The ethanol production of Brazil has its own drawbacks too. Has anyone heard of the concept of opportunity cost. Due to all all the ethanol production, the firtile land of Brazil is overly dedicated towards sugarcane production. Thus, there is a shortage of other crops like food grains, cash crops etc. This has created a lot of resentment in the country where the farmers are still poor because of forced production of a crop that is not their best economic option and the government sponsored ethanol producers are padding their own pockets.

    I think the solution to our agricultural problems is to trust the wisdom of our farmers. Agriculture is so highly regulated in India without any sound judgement. I beleive that the government regulates agriculture because it gives it an opportunity to control the farmers' destiny and thus control the bulk of the votes during elections. When government is resposnsible for the welfare of our farmers, it possesses the right to make hollow promises every election season.

    As far as our energy problems are concerned, I think India should explore alternative sources of energy. Invite provate energy producers to produce and supply energy. We can also bypass the US-Europe held baton that prevents us from dealing with regimes in Iran and other oil rich countries. We are a sovereign nation and thus we must hold sway over our own foreign policy. Just because Washington has a beef with Tehran, doesnt mean that New Delhi has to look elsewhere for its energy problems.

    The US signed the Nuclear -fuel treaty with us, but the future is still bleak. The stringent EU regulations will never let us have an autonomous Nuclear Enrgy program. They want us to sign NPT and CTBT, which we cant considering our geographical realities. Even if we sign NPT, what is the guarantee of our future. Iran signed the NPT and see what all it is being made through. God forbid, but if someday we end up having bad relations with the US or EU, it will be the end of our journey towards Nuclear-Energy autonomy. Thus the Indo-US Nuclear pact will end up being just as useless as monopoly money.
    Last edited by dahiyarules; March 11th, 2007 at 12:35 AM.

  5. #5
    The govt-regulating-agriculture argument is partly right but if it leaves farmer on its own today, it will also leave them exposed to international competition which, I m afraid, is unfairly tilted in favour of big American and European farmers receiving 100s of billions of dollars in subsidy from their respective governments.

    Regarding forced production, i m afraid same sort of thing is goin to happen in UP, may be not now but in a couple of years hence. Bajaj Hindusthan plans to start a mill in every seven-mile radius in the West UP. Obviously that is to encourage farmers to grow more sugarcane and make them dependent on one crop.

    I think depending heavily on one crop could be disastrous and farmers should look for alternatives.
    Last edited by kabir; March 11th, 2007 at 05:18 PM.
    Gentlemen, you can't fight in here. This is the war room!

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by kabir View Post
    The govt-regulating-agriculture argument is partly right but if it leaves farmer on its own today, it will also leave them exposed to international competition which, I m afraid, is unfairly tilted in favour of big American and European farmers receiving 100s of billions of dollars in subsidy from their respective governments.

    Regarding forced production, i m afraid same sort of thing is goin to happen in UP, may be not now but in a couple of years hence. Bajaj Hindusthan plans to start a mill in every seven-mile radius in the West UP. Obviously that is to encourage farmers to grow more sugarcane and make them dependent on one crop.

    I think depending heavily on one crop could be disastrous and farmers should look for alternatives.
    You are right my friend. The subsidies to American farmers has become a big issue internationally. It has stalled the Doha round for years now.

    It is very unfair of the US govt to ask us to open our markets for its producers while it gives unfair advantage to its own players.

    It is time for the rest of the world to unite in the face of this American Hypocrisy and penalize the American businesses for it's govt's policies. We need to create pressure on the American government to start being fair.

    From what I have seen personally, agricultural subsidies are a big domestic issue here. Politicians have made it a vote bank issue. People have been falsely made to believe that the domestic agricultural production will crumble in the face of cheap imports in the absence of subsidies.

    Whatever it is, it is a pretty nasty stalemate.

  7. #7
    Every possible government in India is unfriendly to the farmers. Sugar policy of Indian government has always been anti-farmer. Look at the latest whereby government wants to import the sugar, but unwilling to pay the proper price to our own farmers;

    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...v4&refer=india

    we all know the reason of the drop in sugar production. Not able to get proper price, most farmers reduced the cultivated area for sugar cane. Sugar cane crushing was delayed this year because of court cases on price. Though we have very many farmer MPs, but no one cares for the farmers. Looks like we the children of lessor God.

    RK^2
    There are many paths leading to God, politics is certainly not one of them...

  8. #8

    Good Topic!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by rkumar View Post
    Every possible government in India is unfriendly to the farmers. Sugar policy of Indian government has always been anti-farmer. Look at the latest whereby government wants to import the sugar, but unwilling to pay the proper price to our own farmers;

    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...v4&refer=india

    we all know the reason of the drop in sugar production. Not able to get proper price, most farmers reduced the cultivated area for sugar cane. Sugar cane crushing was delayed this year because of court cases on price. Though we have very many farmer MPs, but no one cares for the farmers. Looks like we the children of lessor God.

    RK^2
    Dear Dr. R K Sahab,
    Thanks for bringing up the important topic.
    I was wondering where are our self acclaimed farmer leaders, be it Ch. Ajit Singh, Mr. Chautala, Mr. Sharad Pawar, Sharad Yadav or H D Devegowda? Even Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav claims that he is farmer's friendly.
    I had given a proposal earlier on this forum, for farmers controlling the sales of their own products, be it Wheat, Milk, Vegetables or Sugercanes. Most of the Suger Mills are state government owned. We might like to have an open policy to give licenses to open Private Suger Mills who can produce both Suger and Ethenol. When these Private Mills are open the local leadership must ensure the farmer's partnerships in the business.
    But alas our own rich farmers will eat our not so rich farmers. Difficult to achieve a perfect society, but yet an attempt can be made. We loose 100% of a thing that we never do.
    So let us have a public awakening without the existing leaders becoming part of it. We need to support and bring up the younger generation to forefront.
    Col (Retd) Virendra Tavathia


    "A person should not be judged by the nature of his/her job, but the manner in which he/she does that".

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