Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], November 7 (ANI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking an urgent appointment to discuss the 'serious situation arising out of the ongoing agitation by sugarcane farmers' in North Karnataka, particularly in Belagavi, Bagalkote, Vijayapura, Vijayanagara, Bidar, Gadag, Hubli-Dharwad and Haveri districts.

The protest by sugarcane farmers in the State demanding a higher price for their produce entered its eighth day in Belagavi on Thursday.

The Chief Minister stated in the letter, dated November 6, that, despite the State Government's sustained efforts to engage both farmers and sugar mill owners in dialogue, the agitation has intensified, and a growing sense of unrest is emerging among the farming community.

'The State Government has engaged proactively and has held multiple rounds of discussions with all the concerned stakeholders,' the Chief Minister wrote.

'In Belagavi, the Deputy Commissioner has advised sugar mills to pay 3,200 per tonne at 11.25 % recovery and 3,100 per tonne at 10.25 % recovery, excluding harvesting and transport charges (H&T). We have introduced digital weigh-bridges, constituted committees to monitor recovery, weighing, deductions and payments, and provided free weighing machines at APMC centres to protect farmer interests,' he added.

Siddaramaiah said that despite these measures, farmers remain dissatisfied and have threatened to resortto highway blockades and other measures if their demands are not met. The Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) fixed by the Central Government for the 2025-26 season stands at 355 per quintal (*3,550 per tonne) for a basic recovery rate of 10.25%.

'However, after deducting the mandatory harvesting and transport costs, which range between Rs 800 and Rs 900 per tonne, the effective payment reaching the farmer is only about Rs 2,600-3,000 per tonne,' he said.

'However, due to sharp increases in fertiliser, labour, irrigation and transport costs, this pricing structure has rendered sugarcane cultivation economically unsustainable. The root of the problem lies in central policy levers: the Fair & Remunerative Price (FRP) formula, the stagnating Minimum Support Price (MSP) for sugar, export curbs and the under-utilised ethanol offtake from sugar-based feedstock,' he said.

The Chief Minister said that farmers demanded a cane price of Rs 3,500 per tonne net to them (after H&T deductions) and time-bound payments. 'This figure, they insist, represents not a premium but the bare minimum required to sustain cultivation,' CM Siddaramaiah said.

'To respond constructively we request that the Union Government immediately enable (i) a central notification to allow States to fix or endorse a net price to farmers after H&T, or mandate that mills absorb H&T so that 3,500/tonne net becomes feasible, (ii) recalibration of the recovery rate linked to premium/discount for FRP, (iii) revision of sugar MSP above 31 per kg, (iv) a calibrated export window to relieve mills of unsold stocks and enable faster payment cycles, (v) increased ethanol allocation and assured procurement from Karnataka's sugar-based capacity, (vi) strengthened payment enforcement protocols with priority given to farmer dues, and (vii) the constitution of a time-bound joint high-level committee to monitor the cane-payment ecosystem in Karnataka until the current season ends,' the Chief Minister said.

'Our State has acted diligently, yet the crisis persists because the fundamental levers are in the hands of the Union Government. I therefore request for a prompt meeting with you so that we may address these issues in concert for the sake of our sugarcane farming community, our rural economy, and the integrity of the sugarcane value-chain in Karnataka and the nation,' the Karnataka CM wrote in his letter. (ANI)