Farmers halt traffic on Pune-Bengaluru highway in protest over sugarcane prices

Thousands of sugarcane farmers brought traffic to a standstill on the Pune-Bengaluru Highway near the entrance to Kolhapur city on Thursday, as they intensified their protest demanding additional payment for their produce. Led by former MP and Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana founder Raju Shetti, the farmers, carrying banners and sugarcane, vowed to continue their agitation until their demand for extra payment is met by sugar mills.

The blockade commenced at 11 am after Shetti paid his respects at the Mahalaxmi temple in Kolhapur. Traffic diversions via Hatkanangale, Panhala, and other routes were implemented, but vehicles were stranded at various exit points due to the roadblock.

Shetti addressed the farmers, emphasizing that relinquishing the demand for an extra Rs 400 per tonne would mean losing that money permanently. He accused sugar mills of reaping windfall gains from the surge in sugar prices and refusing to pass on the benefits to farmers.

The farmers' demand includes Rs 400 per tonne extra over the government-declared Fair Remunerative Price (FRP) for cane sold to mills in the previous season. For the current season, Shetti's organization is seeking the FRP as the initial instalment payment. However, mills have rejected this demand, citing its infeasibility.

Despite a meeting chaired by Cooperation Minister Dilip Walse Patil failing to resolve the deadlock, Shetti announced the NH-4 traffic stoppage. Prior to this, he conducted a padyatra in Sangli and Kolhapur districts to garner support for the protests. The ongoing agitation has hampered the full-scale operations of sugar mills in Maharashtra's sugar bowl districts, even though the sugarcane crushing season officially began on November 1.