‘Senkarumbu,’ or ‘panneer karumbu,’ the edible variety of sugarcane which is ubiquitous during Pongal festivities, has just started hitting the market.Though the festival sees a huge demand for sugarcane, farmers who raise this cane variety say they hardly reap the benefit.

Raised in small pockets in places such as Thiruvalarsolai, Musiri, Thirukattupalli and a few other areas in the central districts, the dark variety of cane, unlike the one raised for crushing, does not ensure assured returns to the farmers. Apart from quality, market conditions dictated by intermediaries determine the returns.

“Most of us raise the variety in a small portion of our lands or in leased lands as a tradition. Given the high cost of cultivation for this variety, not all farmers can afford to go for it. We do it in the hope of getting some money in bulk during the Pongal season,” says G. Sundaravelu (58), a farmer of Nadupadugai village near Thirukattupalli.

“The sugarcane raised in villages around Thirukattupalli is known for their quality. They usually stand about seven feet in height. But this year, the growth seems to have been stunted and the cane is just about 5-5.5 feet high, and this will affect the price,” he says and attributes it to the local seeds that they had used.

High investment

Farmers have to invest about Rs. 1.50 lakh to raise the crop in an acre as it requires much maintenance and care, in contrast to the cane variety that is sent for crushing in sugar mills. “This year, good quality cane fetches about Rs. 160 for a bundle of 10. With this, we will just be able to break even. We can earn some profit only if we get about Rs. 200 a bundle” he says.

Traders, mostly intermediaries, pay an advance to the farmers ahead of Pongal and the harvest is done a few days before the festival. “We have had a good harvest and the demand has also been good this year unlike last year. Labour and other input costs have gone up heavily. But we are getting just about Rs. 140 to Rs. 160 a bundle,” says P. Raghu another farmer of Nadupadugai.

Good demand

This year, there has been good demand with traders transporting sugarcane from the village to Melur in Madurai and even Gujarat.

At Saidambalpuram on the road to Pattukkottai from Thanjavur, C. Karuppaiyan is supervising harvest of dark variety sugarcane at the field he had leased.

“Depending on the size, a cane will fetch me anywhere between Rs. 13 and Rs. 16 this year. Traders from Tiruchi, Dindigul and Thoothukudi have already entered into a deal with me and most of the harvested sugarcane will be despatched to them. I sell only a portion of the produce in the Thanjavur market,” he says.

After Pongal, which is less than a week away, this sugarcane variety will lose its market value and people will seek a disdainful rate for them.

Some distance away, P. Selvaraj, another cane grower belonging to Soorakottai, is arranging the produce for sale in the local market. “This year, I had to spend a significant amount on irrigating the fields as we did not get adequate water in the Kalyana Odai that branches off the Grand Anicut Canal. Along with increased cost of labour, the input cost has shot up reducing our margin this year,” he says.

Since they would not supply the cane to the sugar mills as registered suppliers, they do not have access to crop loans from recognised lending institutions and have to rely on private lenders. The interest they have to cough up for the whole of the cultivation period hikes their input cost and they cannot do anything about it.

 Source: Sugarnews.in – The Hindu – 10 January 2018