By Lokmat English Desk | Published: September 2, 2022 08:05 PM 2022-09-02T20:05:02+5:30 2022-09-02T20:05:02+5:30

Cooperation Minister Atul Save: Decision to ensure that there is no surplus sugarcane

Sugarcane farmers in Marathwada were in trouble last season. About 50 percent of the sugarcane was left standing in the fields due to the closing of the crushing season. While talking to ‘Lokmat’ , Cooperation Minister Atul Save said that 58 sugar companies in the division have been facing many difficulties despite the order to increase the crushing capacity.

Cooperation minister Save paid a courtesy visit to 'Lokmat' on Friday. Lokmat Editor-in-Chief Rajendra Darda welcomed him on this occasion. During the visit, various issues of the State and the division were discussed between the two.

Save said farmers suffered financial loss as 1.5 lakh metric tonnes of sugarcane was left standing in the field at the end of May last season in some parts of the State. Therefore, if this year's crushing starts early, the farmers will get relief. In the last season, the remaining sugarcane left the farmers in trouble. There was also incidents where the farmers set fire to the sugarcane. This decision has been taken so that sugarcane will not be left till the last end.

It is important to try to get a fair and remunerative price for sugar. Discussions are going on with the troubled factories. The sugar industry will not be profitable only by the production of sugar. They will have to raise other means of additional income for survival. BJP's Anil Makariye, Shivaji Dandge, Ganesh Navander and Ulhas Patil were present on this occasion.

Last season was a total chaos for sugar factories. Factories were run in three shifts to increase the crushing. There were no workers for sugarcane cutting. Therefore, it was suggested to the factory owners to order sugarcane crushing machine from the neighboring district. The local administration had issued an order that the factories should not be closed until all the sugarcane is crushed. Even after May 31, 2022, the factories in the department were functioning.

There are a total of 58 sugar factories in Marathwada. From these, Aurangabad has 7, Jalna-5, Beed-7, Nanded-6, Parbhani-6, Hingoli-5, Latur-10 and Osmanabad-12. Around 40,000 to 50,000 workers are employed in the sugar industry in Marathwada, while there are 196 private and cooperative sugar factories in the state.

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