Farmers have been demanding a minimum price of ₹3,500 per tonne of sugarcane, rejecting the ₹3,200 per tonne offer from sugar mills.
Published Nov 07, 2025 | 2:12 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 07, 2025 | 2:12 PM
A farmer loading a sugarcane truck. (iStock)
Synopsis: Protests by sugarcane farmers in several parts of North Karnataka for better prices for their crop entered its eighth day on 8 November. Farmers have been demanding a minimum price of ₹3,500 per tonne of sugarcane, rejecting the ₹3,200 per tonne offer from sugar mills.
Protests by sugarcane farmers in several parts of North Karnataka for better prices for their crop have brought operations to a halt at 26 sugar factories across the region.
As the protest entered its eighth day on Thursday, 8 November, the state has been witnessing a blame game between the Congress and the Opposition BJP.
Farmers have been demanding a minimum price of ₹3,500 per tonne of sugarcane, rejecting the ₹3,200 per tonne offer from sugar mills.
Farmers said the existing Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) set by the Union government fails to cover their production costs and mounting debts. Alleging that sugar factories make steep deductions for harvesting and transport (H&T), which further slashes their earnings, farmers have demanded that mills pay ₹3,500 per tonne. “If they don’t, the state government should step in to bridge the gap, they said.
The protests have taken a volatile turn over the last few days, with farmers blocking key routes and burning tyres. They also reportedly hurled slippers at Minister Shivanand Patil’s car in Belagavi. BJP leaders joined the protests, accusing the Congress government of turning its back on farmers.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, however, claimed that the root of the problem lies in central policy levers: The FRP formula, the stagnating Minimum Support Price (MSP) for sugar, export curbs and the under-utilised ethanol off-take from sugar-based feedstock.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking an urgent meeting with him to discuss the situation, Siddaramaiah said, “Despite sustained efforts by the State Government to engage both the farmers and the sugar mill owners in dialogue, the agitation has intensified and there is a growing sense of unrest among the farming community.”
The farmers’ protest, initially began at Gurlapur Cross in Mudalagi taluk of Belagavi district, has now spread across several districts in north Karnataka, including Bagalkote, Vijayapura and Haveri.
In Gokak town, the agitation gathered fresh momentum as students joined farmers in blocking key intersections, bringing traffic to a halt on major routes linking Belagavi, Savadatti, Mudalagi, and Yaragatti.
Operations at 26 sugar factories across the region have come to a standstill, with protesters refusing to back down from their demand. On Thursday, Mudalagi observed a complete shutdown as thousands of farmers took to the streets.
The protesting farmers have also urged the state government to adopt Maharashtra’s sugar payment model, which they say ensures structured and timely payments to cane growers.
Tensions escalated on Thursday when slippers were allegedly thrown at the car of Minister Patil in Belagavi. Patil, who had met the agitating farmers, appealed to them to call off their proposed road blockade, conveying Siddaramaiah’s assurance that the issue would be resolved by Friday evening.
“I request you not to block roads tomorrow (Friday). The chief minister has sought just one day to bring a permanent solution,” Patil told the protesters.
However, farmers have threatened to intensify their agitation, including blocking national highways, if the government fails to meet their demands by Friday evening.
Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah convened a meeting with the owners of all sugar factories in the state at 11 am on Friday and at 1 pm with farmer leaders. Speaking to reporters on Thursday after a cabinet meeting, the chief minister pointed out that the state’s sugar factories crushed 52.2 million metric tons of sugarcane in the 2024-25 season.
Farmers were to be paid ₹18,221.88 crore at the FRP rate during this period. However, due to higher recovery (sugar yield) in some places, the state government has taken steps to ensure payment of ₹19,569.15 crore to farmers.
“Even after doing all this, the Opposition is exploiting the farmers’ innocence for political gain. Farmers should not fall prey to the BJP’s rhetoric, which has betrayed farmers,” Siddaramaiah told reporters after the cabinet meeting.
BJP Karnataka President BY Vijayendra joined the protest on Tuesday at Gurlapur Cross in Belagavi district. “There is no question of going to sleep until the demands of the sugarcane farmers are met and they receive a fair price,” Vijayendra said in a post on X.
Meanwhile, the chief minister said that the state government will take an appropriate decision after holding discussions on Friday. “I appeal to the sugarcane-growing farmers of the state to have faith in the government and not become victims of the opposition’s politics,” he said.
On Thursday, Siddaramaiah also sought an urgent appointment with Prime Minister Modi to discuss “the serious situation” arising out of the ongoing farmers’ agitation in North Karnataka.
In a letter, he noted that the state government held multiple rounds of discussions with all the concerned stakeholders. In Belagavi, the Deputy Commissioner has advised sugar mills to pay ₹3,200 per tonne at 11.25 percent recovery and ₹3,100 per tonne at 10.25 percent recovery, excluding harvesting and transport charges, he said.
“We have introduced digital weigh-bridges, constituted committees to monitor recovery, weighing, deductions and payments, and provided free weighing machines at Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) centres to protect farmer interests,” he added.
Despite these measures, the chief minister said, farmers remain dissatisfied and have threatened to resort to highway blockades and other measures if their demands are not met. He further pointed out that the FRP fixed by the Union government for the 2025-26 season stands at ₹3,550 per tonne for a basic recovery rate of 10.25 percent.
“However, after deducting the mandatory harvesting and transport costs, which range between ₹800 and ₹900 per tonne, the effective payment reaching the farmer is only about ₹2,600-₹3,000 per tonne. Due to sharp increases in fertiliser, labour, irrigation and transport costs, this pricing structure has rendered sugarcane cultivation economically unsustainable,” he said.
Pointing out that the farmers are demanding a cane price of ₹3,500 per tonne net to them (after H&T deductions) and time-bound payments, Siddaramaiah said, this figure, they insist, represents not a premium but the bare minimum required to sustain cultivation.
“To respond constructively, we request that the Union government immediately enable 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; recalibration of the recovery rate linked premium/discount for FRP,” he said.
He also demanded revision of sugar MSP above ₹31 per kg, a calibrated export window to relieve mills of unsold stocks and enable faster payment cycles, increased ethanol allocation and assured procurement from Karnataka’s sugar-based capacity.
Additionally, he called for strengthened payment enforcement protocols with priority given to farmer dues and the constitution of a time-bound joint high-level committee to monitor the cane-payment ecosystem in Karnataka until the current season ends.
Stating that the state has acted diligently, Siddaramaiah said the crisis persists because the “fundamental levers” are in the hands of the Union government.
“I therefore request 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,” he said.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
