Crushing halted at Amaravathy Cooperative Sugar Mill; cane farmers in Western region keep fingers crossed
Sugarcane farmers in Tiruppur, Coimbatore, and Dindigul districts are concerned about registering their crops with the defunct Amaravathi Cooperative Sugar Mill, which failed to crush its procurement target last year due to machinery breakdown. Despite a ₹160 crore proposal for modernization, the mill’s outdated machinery remains unrepaired. Farmers staged a protest demanding funds for renovation, citing the mill’s potential for ethanol production. Tiruppur ranks 10th in sugarcane cultivation in Tamil Nadu, with 3,484 hectares and 117 tonnes per hectare productivity.
Sugarcane farmers in the western districts have kept their fingers crossed in the wake of Tiruppur district administration instructing farmers to register their crops with the near-defunct Amaravathi Cooperative Sugar Mill in Udumalpet.
The Tiruppur administration said last week that cane farmers in the Mill’s Command Area encompassing Coimbatore, Tiruppur and Dindigul districts could register their names to supply their produce to the Mill. The farmers have been told that their produce will be diverted and crushed in other mills, like it was done last year.
Against the procurement of 75,000 tonnes last year, the Mill could not crush beyond 50,000 tonnes as there was a break-down in machinery. Out of the rest, 10,000 tonnes had to be diverted to other mills. For this crushing season, the entire produce in the command area is to be diverted to other mills.
The farmers who had been expecting the State government to take forward the ₹160 crore proposal formulated last year for modernising the Mill in two phases are a disappointed lot. Since the machinery was installed in 1955, even the repair works could not be carried out due to absence of spare parts when there was a break-down last year, after which cane had to be diverted to other mills, according to official sources..
On Thursday, a group of farmers staged a demonstration in front of the Tiruppur Collectorate demanding immediate sanction of funds for renovation of the machinery. As per the government data, Tiruppur ranks tenth in the sugarcane area cultivation in the State with 3,484 hectares.
The productivity is 117 tonnes per hectare. According to M.M. Nagarajan, a functionary of Tamil Nadu Karumbu Vivasayigal Sangam serving as the Secretary representing cultivators in Amaravathy Cooperative Sugar Mill, considering the 11% sugar recovery of the produce in the western region, the government must accord topmost priority for modernising the Mill. With the modern machinery in place, the Mill will also serve as a model for substantial ethanol production in future, Mr. Nagarajan said.
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