Farmers in North Andhra are bracing for a big change next year. Sugarcane cultivation, once a staple of the region's agriculture, is set to be abandoned. This shift comes in the wake of three sugar factories closing, with a fourth expected to follow in the districts of Vizianagaram, Parvatipuram, and Srikakulam.
Sugarcane farming has plummeted in Vizianagaram district. It once covered 35,000 acres but has now shrunk to just 3,500 acres. Srikakulam district tells a similar story, with its sugarcane cultivation area dwindling from 50,000 acres to 5,000 acres. Farmers are now considering switching to other crops in the upcoming Rabi season as the closures force them to adapt.
The decline in sugarcane farming is due to various issues. There's not enough sugarcane for crushing, persistent financial losses, and a lack of modern technology for ethanol production. The Sri Vijayarama Gajapathi Cooperative Sugar Factory in Bhimasingi, Vizianagaram district, stopped operations back in 2019, though it had been around since 1960. Another cooperative factory in Latchayyapeta, Parvatipuram district, which began its work in 1995, ceased crushing activities five years ago due to ongoing financial struggles.
The Amadalavalasa sugar factory in Srikakulam district has been non-operational since 2003, despite being a hot topic during election campaigns. Efforts to revive it have repeatedly hit a wall. Meanwhile, a private factory near Sankili, run by E. I. D. Parry India Limited, has been a lifeline for local farmers for the past two decades. But now, the company has warned it might stop crushing from the next season.
Community Efforts and Government Appeals
Local leaders are not sitting idle. They are pushing for government intervention in response to these closures. Buditi Appala Naidu, President of the Sankili Chakkera Parisrama Parirakshana Samithi, has handed a memorandum to Vizianagaram Joint Collector S. Sedhu Madhavan. The memo calls for measures to protect the factory, highlighting the thousands of families that depend on it for employment.
Similarly, Lok Satta Party State President Bhisetti Babji has been in talks with Minister for MSME Kondapalli Srinivas and Collector S. Ramsundar Reddy. He argues for the modernization of the Bhimasingi sugar factory, stressing that the closure of agro-based industries will bring economic activity in hundreds of surrounding villages to a halt. Babji insists on government action to revive all sugar factories in the region.
“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.
