Farmers threaten agitation over MSP if demand not met immediately

Chunappa Pujeri, president of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene, has warned of an agitation if the Union government does not fulfil their demand for revised Minimum Support Price (MSP) for sugar at the earliest.

“The Centre has fixed an MSP of ₹31 per kg for sugar, but it has not revised it for nine years now. We have been demanding that it be hiked to ₹60 per kg. If this demand is not met, then we will not attend the meeting called in New Delhi by Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister for Food and Civil Supplies,’’ Mr. Pujeri told reporters in Belagavi on Monday. He claimed that the groups were yet to receive a formal invitation from Central officials.

“The Centre must announce its decision on our demands for a higher fair price for sugarcane, a universal fair price for ethanol in all States and a revised MSP for sugar,” he said.

Sugarcane growers have been grappling with various issues, like higher cost of cultivation, difficulty accessing the market and a lack of fair pricing for years. A higher Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) and MSP would ensure farmers earn an income commensurate with those costs, he said.

He also demanded a strict mechanism to discipline sugar factories that do not pay FRP or maintain dues for a long time.