Sugar price rise: Allow jaggery units to produce ethanol, says sugarcane growers’ body
The State Sugarcane Growers’ Association is calling on the government to allow local jaggery units to produce ethanol to help farmers cope with rising costs and market instability. They argue this would empower farmers and provide an eco-friendly fuel alternative.
Why it matters
It addresses the economic distress of sugarcane farmers and proposes a policy shift to decentralize ethanol production.
Amid the soaring prices of sugar in the market, the State Sugarcane Growers’ Association has urged the Government to permit the production of ethanol at jaggery units.
Association President Kurubur Shanthakumar attributed the rising price of sugar to the “substantial profits” made by the sugar factories from ethanol production. “The benefits of ethanol production should not be restricted to large sugar factories. The government should formulate simple rules and a policy enabling farmers to produce ethanol at their own local jaggery-making units,” Mr. Shanthakumar said in a statement here on Sunday.
The ethanol produced in this manner should be permitted to be used as an “eco-friendly cooking fuel in households, fuel for farmers’ own vehicles and tractors and sold to the government at a fixed price, with the government purchasing the surplus ethanol,” he said.
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