Sugarcane, which contributes significantly to the national exchequer, is set to be a major bone of contention in the bitter battle between the sugar millers and the gur & jaggery units in Uttar Pradesh this year.

With millers and gur units evenly poised in terms of procurement of cane (both draw 40%) and the stakes being very high for both of them, the fight would now be all about winning the farmers? trust and confidence. And it is here that the private sugar millers seem to be loosing out to the crushers.

Even after spending a substantial amount in the name of cane development, wherein the farmers are given free fertilisers and agro-chemicals as special incentives to deliver cane to the mills, the cane growers, instead, seem to be inclined towards supplying the cane to kolhus (crushers), who are offering a higher price than the millers.

“This is really unfortunate. The kolhus do not spend a penny on the farmers, yet they walk away with the cane. We nurture the farmers throughout the year, yet when the harvesting time comes, they do not seem to recognise us,” says a prominent miller in the state.

There are various reasons for the farmers to do so, the most important being that the millers harass the farmers while making payments, whereas kolhus pay the money instantly.

The problem of under weighing, too, is not an issue with the kolhus, who try to appease the farmers as much as they can. The reason behind this is because gur, which was selling at around Rs 13 last year, has shot to Rs 45, making it dearer than sugar in the retail market.

“What is interesting is that while everyone seems to be engrossed with the spiralling price of sugar, gur, the ?poor man?s sweetener’, is selling at a higher price of Rs 45, but the issue has not raked up the headlines.

The reason behind the unusual rise in the price of gur is its increasing use as a raw material to make alcohol. And since the country liquor makers are ready to pay a higher rate for the gur, the kolhus, on their part, do not mind paying a higher price to the farmers.

And for the millers, getting adequate cane means they have to at least match up the price with the kolhus or let the kolhus rule the roost.

“The situation this year is not a reflection of any natural calamity but of the failure of policy. When sugar was abundantly available three to four years back, the millers harassed the farmers to no end and went to the extent of challenging the state government?s SAP in the courts.

The poor farmers were stranded with their cane, not knowing what to do. Since their fields were not evacuated, they could not even sow wheat on time, thereby losing out on both the crops.

The millers do give certain incentives at the beginning of the sowing season, luring the farmers to sow cane, but then they act like despots, having the crop delivered to their mills at the price that they think right.

This has made the farmers totally disillusioned and bitter, forcing many of them to move away from cane to other crops, which fetch better remunerative margins for them.

“They have lost faith in the millers,” says a sugarcane industry specialist, adding that while the millers are a strong lobby and have the wherewithal to knock on the courts as well as the government to get their demands accepted, poor farmers have nobody to turn to in time of distress.

“So now, if they choose to sell their produce to the kolhus, not so much for the higher rates, but for the instant payment, can anyone blame them?” he argued.