Sugarcane farmers on protest path again to seek fair share in sugar and ethanol revenues

The two-day national highway blockade by sugarcane farmers and the ongoing “Hubballi Chalo” padayatra, which began from Hattargi in Belagavi district on October 14, has once again brought to the fore the long-unresolved issues affecting cane growers.

The latest agitation has also put focus on Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister for Education, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, as the farmers are directly demanding an answer from him. In March 2026, a delegation of farmers had met Mr. Joshi in Hubballi and sought better prices for sugarcane. They pointed out that the minimum selling price (MSP) of sugar had remained unchanged at ₹31 a kg for nine years. They demanded a fair and remunerative price (FRP) of ₹5,500 per tonne of sugarcane and a State-Advised Price (SAP) to bridge any gap between the price paid by mills and the price fixed by the government.

No action yet

But when nothing moved before the start of the sugarcane crushing season, thousands of sugarcane growers marched to Hubballi on September 29, the hometown of Mr. Joshi, seeking concrete assurances, only to be called to New Delhi for a meeting of all stakeholders from sugarcane-growing States on October 12. While the Union government termed the outcome of the meeting as “positive”, the farmers were upset and felt their demands were “not even heard properly”, resulting in blocking of the Pune–Bengaluru National Highway in Belagavi, and other parts of north Karnataka.

They are now marching to Hubballi and led by Chunappa Pujeri, State president of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene. They have received support from Kabbu Belegarara Okkoota, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha and other organisations. Two influential Lingayat seers, Shashikanth Padasalagi Guru of Inchigeri Mutt and Fakira Dingaleshwar Swami of Shirahatti Fakkireshwar Mutt, have supported them and questioned the “silence” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue. A few more seers have also expressed solidarity.

Raju Shetty, convener of the Shetkari Sanghatana, attended the New Delhi meeting. He said that sugar is already selling at ₹50–₹70 a kg in the open market, and it only needs to be notified. This would benefit mills and subsequently farmers, he contended. Mr. Shetty also demanded that farmers receive ₹60 for every litre of ethanol produced.

Mr. Pujeri maintains that the agitation was against an exploitative system, not a political party or an individual. “While factory owners are expanding their industries, sugarcane growers remain burdened with debt and perpetually poor,” he said.

‘Other States favoured’

The farmers are also upset that oil marketing companies favoured producers in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh over Karnataka in ethanol procurement. They want all the ethanol produced in the State to be procured. They also want the Central committee headed by agricultural scientist Ramesh Chand to submit its report soon and the Union government to implement its recommendations.

Allegations that the agitation was politically motivated have been termed baseless by ruling party leaders, who said the same farmers had protested against the State government in 2025, which resulted in the then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah fixing a FRP of ₹3,300 per tonne for sugarcane based on the State average recovery rate of 11.25%. Congress leader and Minister Satish Jarkiholi, added that sugar mill owners had been seeking a revision of the MSP of sugar from the Union government for seven years without success.