Hundreds of agitating farmers and activists of the Raju Shetti-led pro-farmer Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana (SSS) staged a blockade of the Pune-Bengaluru highway at Kolhapur on Thursday, demanding a higher fair and remunerative price (FRP) from sugarcane factory owners.
Mr. Shetti has demanded that sugar factory owners in the State’s ‘sugar belt’ districts (of Kolhapur, Satara and Sangli where the SSS wields influence) pay ₹100 per tonne over and above the FRP for the cane crushed in the last season, along with an additional ₹100 per tonne over and above the FRP price to be fixed this season.
While Maharashtra Minister Hasan Mushrif, an influential leader from Kolhapur, said that mill owners had agreed to pay ₹50 per tonne over and above the FRP from the cane crushed last season, Mr. Shetti and the SSS refused to budge from their programme.