Belagavi, 16 October

Sugarcane farmers in Karnataka will resume their agitation at Gurlapur village in Mudalagi taluk of Belagavi district from Saturday, even as their indefinite protest elsewhere continues.

The farmers on Friday warned the State and Central governments that they would not allow sugar factories to begin operations until a decision was announced on sugarcane prices.

The farmers are demanding that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of sugar be hiked to Rs 60 per kg from around Rs 30, and the Fair Remunerative Price be increased to Rs 5,500 per tonne of sugarcane, from the current Rs 3,650 per tonne.

They have also sought an additional support price of Rs 1,000 per tonne from the Karnataka government, citing Tamil Nadu's provision of an additional Rs 700 per tonne to sugarcane growers.

Farmer leaders and office-bearers of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene will also meet on Saturday and decide when they will gherao Union Minister Pralhad Joshi’s residence in Hubballi. Farmers have accused Joshi of failing to protect the interests of farmers and sugarcane growers and of hesitating to raise their concerns.

Meanwhile, the farmers' Hubballi Chalo foot march entered its third day on Friday. The march began on Thursday from Muktimath near Butramanahatti on the outskirts of Belagavi and reached the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha later in the evening. The protesters spent the night at a marriage hall near the legislature building before resuming the march on Friday. They reached MK Hubballi in Kittur taluk, where they halted for the night. They have been covering roughly 30 km every day, leaders said.