NAWALPARASI: Sugarcane farmers in Nawalparasi district have demanded the government to fix the price of sugarcane.

They demanded to fix per quintal of sugarcane at Rs 561, saying the government has not fixed the sugarcane price even after sugarcane crushing has already been started by the sugar industries since mid-November.

Price of per quintal sugarcane was at Rs 448 at a time when the price of per kg sugar was Rs 48 last year. So, the price of per quintal sugarcane should be fixed at Rs 561 when the price of per kg sugar is Rs 72 this year, according to the Sugarcane Farmers Committee.

A sugarcane farmer Prem Chandra Gupta said that farmers have been hit hard and started switching to another occupation every year due to inappropriate price of sugarcane and delay in payment by Sugar Industries.

Nawalparasi district has five big sugar industries—Lumbini Sugar Industry, Indira Sugar Mill, Mohini Sugar Mill and Bagmati Khadsari.

Sugarcane is cultivated on 7,500 hectares of land in the district and 20-25 quintals of sugarcane is produced every year.

According to the Committee, some 14,000 households are involved in sugarcane cultivation in the district.