Area under sugarcane cultivation in Dharmapuri district to be increased to ensure smooth mill opertions
DHARMAPURI: The area under sugarcane cultivation in Dharmapuri district could be expanded to about 6,000 hectares (15,000 acres) by the next grinding season.
Dharmapuri administration along with the mill administration of the Subramaniya Siva Cooperative Sugarmill in Harur and the Dharmapuri Cooperative Sugarmill in Palacode are taking steps to increase the area.
Sugarcane cultivation is one of the key crops cultivated in the district. The average area under sugarcane in the district has been about 4,300 ha. However, over the past few years, the cultivation area has been rapidly decreasing. In 2024-25, sugarcane cultivation was targeted for only 2,800 ha and only 31% of this target was achieved, which is about 878 ha.
Because of the low cultivation area and lack of canes for grinding, the sugar mill in Palacode did not function properly. Meanwhile, the Subramaniya Siva Cooperative Sugarmill had ground 1.16 lakh metric tonnes of cane with a recovery of 10.43%. Because of the declining cultivation, the Dharmapuri administration has stepped in and has affixed both the mills the task to improve the cultivation area.
Officials in the Dharmapuri Cooperative Sugarmill said, “To improve the cultivation area, the mill authorities are involved in campaigns in every panchayat within the mill’s range. We have affixed a target of 5,000 acres. As of right now over 1,326 acres of cultivation area have been registered and we are taking steps to increase it. This year we have provided Rs 3,699 per tonne which includes the MSP of Rs 3,350 per tonne and Rs 349 of assistance fund. With the recent announcement in the Assembly that sugarcane will be procured at Rs 4,000, we hope more farmers would get involved with its cultivation.”
Meanwhile, officials in the Subramaniya Siva Cooperative Sugarmill stated, “They have affixed a target of 10,000 acres. In 2024-25, we had ground over 1.61 lakh tonnes of sugarcane with a recovery rate of 10.43%. For this, we had paid farmers Rs 3,881 per tonne which included Rs 3532.80 per tonne and Rs 349 in assistance fund. Next year we hope to fetch more than Rs 4,100 per tonne. We urge farmers to capitalise on this and register their fields for sugarcane cultivation.”
Meanwhile, K Murali, a farmer from Morappur, said, “It is just not worth to cultivate sugarcane. The rising labour cost, the lack of machinery or new technologies, and poor returns on insurance are some of the factors that dissuade farmers from cultivating sugarcane”.
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Source : The New Indian Express
