Theur village, Pune:
With a 30 per cent drop in sugar production in Maharastra and a sharp drop in sugrcane production per acre, the government has little option but to woo farmers with lucrative offers to produce more sugarcane. But farmers are wary of the offer - what if it's just an election sop they say.
The local sugar factory has offered her double the money for every tonne of sugarcane she grows but Kalpana Kunjir is reluctant to increase its cultivation. Her worry - what if the politician-controlled sugar mills don't keep their promise?
Elections will be over by the time the crop is ready. What if they slash rates then?
''I can't take the risk. Today, no doubt, they are offering good rates. But I will be doomed if I don't get good rates tomorrow. So I am growing vegetables alongside to be safe,'' said Kalpana Kunjir, sugarcane farmer.
Years of uncertainty in the sugar belt has made farmers angry and wary. They say when demand is high the government and sugar mills split the profit between them. Farmers end up only accumulating losses.
''Farmers have to fend for themselves. There is no one to care about us,'' said a farmer.
Feeling wronged, farmers in western Maharashtra, one of the biggest sugar-producing belts in the world, have moved away.
With monsoon playing truant, farmers not getting good rates, the traditional sugarcane cultivators were left with no choice but to switch over to other crops. And the produce in the region has dipped 30 per cent.
Sugarcane production in Maharashtra over the years: - 2007: 91 lakh tonnes
- 2008: 46 lakh tonnes
Desperate to reverse the trend and bring farmers back to raising cane, sugar factories have doubled the buying price - the highest offer ever.
Sugarcane buying price in Maharashtra- 2008: Rs 950
- 2009: Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,800
But farmers say this may just be an election sop, a short-term arrangement.
''There is no connection between elections and sugar. Sugarcane production fell this year because of which the demand was more and so the rates being offered is high,'' said Kanchan, director, Theur sugar factory.
The lesson - you cannot cut a bitter deal and reap a sweet return.