The government has provided grants to farmers producing sugarcane this year before Dashain, which has made the farmers elated.
More than 14O million payments have been provided by the government in the bank accounts of the farmers of the Mahottari district who provided sugarcane to the sugar mills in the crushing season of 2078/79 B.S.
According to Treasury and Finance Control Office, Mahottari, there is an operation of two mills, small and large scale, in the Mahottari district. 14.29 million have been disbursed in the accounts of 11, 381 farmers who had supplied sugarcane to these two sugar mills.
Bal Krishna Adhikari, Chief of the Treasury and Finance Control Office, Mahottari said that 139.3 million was distributed as grants to 10,964 farmers who supplied sugarcane in Everest Sugar Mill at Ramnagar. This year Everest Sugar Mill has produced 1,80,159 quintals of sugar by crushing 19,90,865 quintals of sugarcane.
Chief Adhikari said that 3.6 million was granted to 417 farmers who supplied sugarcane in the Siddhibinayak Sugar Mill. Siddhi Binayak Sugar Mill which came into operation recently produced 6,000 quintals of sugar by refining 51,472 quintals of sugarcane.
Naresh Singh Kushwaha, president of Sugarcane Producers Association, Mahottari said farmers said that the government has increased the subsidy amount to Rs 7 per quintal this year. Last year’s grant per quintal was 6 rupees 50 Paisa.
“The increased grant in the mouth of the great festival of Hindu in Nepal, Dashain, has brightened the spirit of farmers”, he said.
Chief Adhikari said that subsidies are given to farmers as per the arrangement in the budget. A total of Rs 810 million was allocated for the farmers planting sugar across the nation in the current fiscal year.
The sugarcane farmers are demanding a minimum of Rs 700 per quintal from the government. Currently, the price of sugarcane per quintal has been maintained at Rs 590 per quintal.
Source : TRN,
