LIVE TV
Odisha
Recommended Stories
Dharmgarh: Sugarcane farming was considered as a profitable cultivation once, but now it seems to have become a burden for the farming community in Kalahandi district all thanks to inadequate marketing support.
Sugarcanes were extensively cultivated on the banks of Hati and Tel rivers. However, in the last decade there has been a sharp decrease in sugarcane farming in the district due unavailability of proper market in the region.
Due to price rise of fertilizers, pesticides and workforce, farmers are bearing losses in sugarcane farming, forcing them to leave the cultivation and migrate to other areas in search of better livelihood.
In absence of sugar mills in the district, farmers are bound to use traditional method to churn sugarcane and produce jaggery and sell it in the local market. However, due to imported products the demand of country-made jaggery is also decreasing due to which farmers who were once cultivating sugarcane on 15-20 acres are now only using 1-2 acres of land for sugarcane farming.
“Due to high labour rates, we are facing losses and are getting burdened with loans so we are forced to migrate other places while leaving our traditional livelihood,” said Lakhidhar Nayak, a sugarcane farmer.
“Price of jaggery produced by us is very low, so if govt enhances the rate of the produce, it will be really helpful,” said Nidi Nayak appealing to the govt to set up a sugar factory in the region to benefit the farmers.
According to reports, state agriculture department had given Kalahandi district a target of 1000 hectare of sugarcane farming but due to lack of markets only 40-50 hectares of sugarcane could be cultivated last season.
Kalampur, Jaipatana, Dharmgarh, Golamunda and Junagarh blocks in the district have recorded significant decline in sugarcane cultivation, sources said.
On the other hand district agriculture officials have also accepted that the decrease of sugarcane farming in the district.
“As there are no sugar mills in the area, farmers are forced to go for distress sale. But we are looking to find some solution so that the farming community growing this crop can revive,” said Kameshwar Mallick, District Agriculture Officer.
