Sugar industry collapse forces thousands of North Andhra farmers to abandon crop

Sugarcane turned bitter for thousands of farmers in North Andhra districts

Four decades of sugar manufacturing across Vizianagaram, Parvatipuram and Srikakulam districts are ending as three cooperative factories lie shut and a private unit has warned it may stop crushing from next season, threatening to push thousands of farmers away from a crop that once covered 85,000 acres.

The acreage under sugarcane in Vizianagaram district has collapsed from 35,000 acres a few years ago to just 3,500 acres today, while Srikakulam has seen cultivation shrink from around 50,000 acres to 5,000 acres. Farmers are now expected to shift to other crops from the next Rabi season with the closure of operations in all four sugar factories.

Three cooperative units already closed

The Sri Vijayarama Gajapathi Cooperative Sugar Factory at Bhimasingi in Jami Mandal of Vizianagaram district, established in 1960, closed its operations in 2019. Lack of adequate sugarcane for crushing, continuous losses and absence of new technology for the production of ethanol and other allied products led to the closure, according to the source.

Another important cooperative sugar factory located at Latchayyapeta of Seethanagaram mandal in Parvatipuram district was established in 1995 and operated by NCS Group between 2002 and 2020. Due to continuous losses, the company stopped crushing five years ago.

The Amadalavalasa sugar factory in Srikakulam district, established in 1953, stopped its operations in 2003. The issue of reviving the factory was an election issue every five years, but its reopening remained only on paper.

Private factory signals exit

Although those three sugar factories closed their operations, the private sugar factory located near Sankili of Regidi Amadalavalasa in Vizianagaram district provided much-needed relief for sugarcane farmers with its continuous operations in the last two decades. The company, E.I.D. Parry India Limited, informed the farmers that it might not take up crushing from next season.

Sankili Chakkera Parisrama Parirakshana Samithi President Buditi Appala Naidu submitted a memorandum to Vizianagaram Joint Collector S. Sedhu Madhavan, requesting the government to take steps for the protection of the factory, since thousands of families depended on the factory, which provided direct and indirect employment.

Call for government intervention

Lok Satta Party State President Bhisetti Babji met Minister for MSME Kondapalli Srinivas and Collector S. Ramsundar Reddy for the modernisation of the Bhimasingi sugar factory. "Closure of agro-based industries will stop economic activity in hundreds of villages located in and around the factory. In the absence of other major industries, the government should take steps for the revival of all sugar factories," said Mr. Babji.

The cascading shutdowns mark the near-total collapse of an industry that once anchored the rural economy of North Andhra, leaving farmers with shrinking options and communities facing the loss of both direct and indirect livelihoods tied to sugar manufacturing.

Source: The Hindu