Ramesh Chand-Led Panel to Review Karnataka, Maharashtra Sugarcane Farmers’ Demands on Prices and Weighment
New Delhi: Demands raised by sugarcane farmers from Karnataka and Maharashtra have prompted the Centre to constitute a committee examining farmer returns, sugar pricing and mill-level measurement practices.
Chaired by former NITI Aayog member Prof. Ramesh Chand, the panel follows farmers’ discussions with the Union agriculture and food ministers, the government announced on October 14.
The review covers cultivation costs, higher farmer returns and revision of sugar’s ex-mill Minimum Selling Price, considering production costs, market realisations and mills’ financial viability.
The panel will examine sugar-recovery testing, transparent verification, cane weighment and the adequacy of calibration, inspection and verification mechanisms. It will also assess weight deductions for mechanically harvested cane, actual harvesting losses and the financial impact on payments to farmers.
Farmers’ representatives, mill associations, state governments and experts will be consulted. Members include the Agriculture Commissioner and joint secretaries handling sugar and legal metrology. The committee must submit findings and specific recommendations as early as possible for consideration by the competent authority. The announcement does not approve a price increase or changes to cane-weight deductions.
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