Sugar cane industry in doldrums

Cheaper cane - expensive sugar:

M Nelson Piyaratne- Kataragama Group

Sugar cane farmers of Moneragala district say due to the lack of fertilizer relief aid it is difficult to continue the industry.

There are about 100,000 sugar cane farmers in 8 Divisional Secretariat areas in the Moneragala district. They have been engaged in growing sugar cane for about thirty years up to now.

The main economic crop in Moneragala district is sugar cane cultivation. It is unfair that these farmers are not given the fertilizer subsidy which is given to paddy farmers. Although the price of sugar goes up constantly the price of a ton of a sugar cane has gone up only by a little amount. The farmers say that the price of one CWT fertilizer bag in Pelwatta is Rs 3,350, but private traders sell a bag for Rs 2,990. In 2008, a bag cost Rs 1,000 and in 2010 the cost went up to Rs 3,350 at the end of last year.

The farmers say that these circumstances put Pelwatta and Sevanagala Sugar cane farmers in severe financial difficulty and therefore, request the relevant authorities to take have necessary relief measures to save the sugar cane farming industry.