State farmers cheer year of cane; raise acreage

By Rajendra Jadhav

GOVE, India (Reuters) - A young farmer in blue jeans and a white shirt is cheerfully explaining to the tractor operator how he wanted the furrows dug across his 1-acre field in this village in Satara, 270 km south of Mumbai.

Sudhir Bhosle's cheer stems from an assured record price for his cane harvest this year. Sugar mills in Maharashtra, India's largest producer, are literally fighting to please him.

No wonder the 26-year-old is planting cane where he grew soybean in the summer.

Industry officials say, the trend could revitalise cane cultivation and help the world's biggest sugar consumer raise output and trim imports, which doubled sugar futures this year.

The situation in Maharashtra is in a sharp contrast to the second biggest producer Uttar Pradesh, where after a month-long protests mills and farmers association on Wednesday agreed on cane procurement price of 1,900-1,950 rupees per tonne.

"In Maharashtra there is no agitation for cane price," Prakash Naiknavare, managing director, Maharashtra State Cooperative Sugar Factories Federation, said.

"The millers have already paid an initial advance of 1,750 rupees per tonne and the final payment would be in the region of 2,300-2,400 rupees."

Some millers in the state have already declared they were willing to pay 2,500 rupees per tonne.