Harshini Brahmavar
Daijiworld Media Network - Brahmavar (SP)
Brahmavar, Dec 27: Talk about the revival plans of the now defunct Brahmavar Sugar Factory is in the air again. A revival plan amounting to Rs 100 crore has been drawn up.
It has been decades since the machinery of the factory went silent. Successive governments doled out empty promises but did nothing. Reconstruction and revival of the sugar factory is a daunting task. The recently elected new board of directors has been able to bring some glimmer of hope for the farmers from the area.
A plan of revival has already been drawn by the sugar factory board chaired by Baikady Suprasad Shetty. The plan envisages an outlay of about Rs 100 crore. There is plan to begin electricity generation with the use of ethanol along with producing sugar. There are plans to set up LPG gas and distillery units. Talks are on in this regard with an industrial firm from Germany.
Along side revival of the factory, there are plans to encourage farmers by handing to them sugarcane seeds. In addition, farmers contact meetings will be held link 30 important centres in the district. As per the current plans, the factory will begin production in 2023-24.
Crushing unit (Alemane): As of now, only 60 to 70 farmers are growing sugarcane in this district and only five sugarcane crushing units are functioning. This figure is as per the recent survey conducted jointly by the district Raita Sangha and Bharatiya Kissan Sangha. About 1,800 farmers have pledged to undertake sugarcane cultivation in about 4,000 acres of land. Now, Varahi irrigation project has been feeding 18,000 to 20,000 acres of land. This year, paddy was grown in 3,300 hectares of land in Udupi district. In complarison, Dakshina Kannada district which is geographically bigger, has produced paddy only in 18,000 hectares.
Jaggery in demand: In the past, crushing units were located at Kedoor, Shanady, and a couple of more places. Now the number of crushing units has increased by three. There are plans to shift the Hombady crushing unit to within the premises of the sugar factory.Several crushing units have been closed because of various reasons. Only alternative crop for paddy that is suitable for the district is sugarcane. Paddy has several enemies in the form of wild boars, antelopes, monkeys etc. But sugarcane crop has only one major enemy, wild boar.
The farmers who have committed for cultivating sugar in the form of commitment etters, have sought security for their crops. The crushers in Kedoor and Shanady produce four to six tonnes of jaggery now whereas the one at Hombady has a capacity to produce 20 to 25 tonnes of jaggery. A sugar factory to be viable, sugarcane needs to be grown in 5,000 to 6,000 acres of land and the district has that capacity.
The plan to revive the sugar factory has given rise to new hope among the people. There is currently demand for jaggery but the supply of sugarcane is not enough. The farmers know that revival of crushing units will benefit them. Satyanarayana Udupa, general Secretary of Bharatiya Kisan 'Sangha, feels that if the farmers are given the guarantee for their crops, more farmers may involve with raising this crop.