KATHMANDU, Aug 3: Sugarcane farmers, who have repeatedly suffered due to delay in payments, are once again compelled to protest after the government reduced the subsidy provided to them.
The government had been providing subsidies to sugarcane producers for the past one and a half decades. However, it has not announced any budget allocation for this purpose for the current fiscal year. On top of that, the subsidy for last year’s harvest has been halved to Rs 35 per quintal from Rs 70.
Dissatisfied with the decision, sugarcane producers, in a meeting held last week, decided to launch a protest. Farmers from Mahottari, Sarlahi, Bara, and Sunsari districts have planned a three-phase protest against the government’s move to slash subsidies that have been provided for over a decade.
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Kapil Muni Mainali, president of the Nepal Sugarcane Producers’ Association, said the government still owes farmers millions of rupees in dues and is now reducing the support meant to assist struggling farmers. “If the government reduces the subsidy, a large number of farmers will be compelled to abandon sugarcane cultivation, which they rely on for their livelihood,” Mainali added.
Citing a shortage of financial resources, the government cut the subsidy from Rs 70 to Rs 35 per quintal. According to Mainali, the government is yet to release Rs 373.99 million in subsidies to sugarcane producers from Sarlahi district alone.
In the past too, sugarcane farmers were almost every year forced to protest, either to receive payments from sugar mills or to obtain the government-announced subsidies. Farmers have also suffered due to the government’s apathy in fixing the floor price of their products on time and making only minimal increases in the purchase rate for their harvests.
The government, in its budget announcement for fiscal year 2025/26, did not address the sugarcane subsidy issue.
As part of their protest plan, sugarcane farmers will demonstrate at the main gates of sugar mills across the country on August 5. Likewise, they have decided to stage a protest at Maitighar Mandala in Kathmandu starting August 22.
