For ensuring regular running of sugar factory in the district and enhancing production, sugarcane farmers in Balod district were being asked to adopt modern modes of farming like tissue culture and drip irrigation.
As per official information, presently sugarcane is grown in over 1000 hectares of land in Balod district which does not turn out to be sufficient for continuous running of the factory during a cane crushing season, officials stated.
A meeting in this connection was chaired by District Collector Rajesh Singh Rana wherein Krishak Sangvari (farmer friends) wherein officials of Agriculture Department also took part.
He asked them to inform farmers for utilizing new techniques of sugarcane production so that more sugarcane could be produced with less cost.
“Farmers should be informed about producing plants through tissue culture and supplying water through drip irrigation. This would be helpful in boosting sugarcane production,” he said.
Several training programmes have also been conducted for increasing the sugarcane production acreage, he said and asked the district administration officials to encourage famers.
According to the Collector, due to long gap between cutting of sugarcane at farms and it’s crushing, the sugar recovery falls. This fact should be informed to the farmers, he said.
Rana instructed officials to paste a copy of working plan for current sugarcane juicing season in every village Panchayat and proclamations should be also made for the same. This will help farmers in updating themselves about time for harvesting and taking it to the factory.
He further informed that at block and district level ‘Kinsan Mitan Kendra’ have been established where farmers could tell their problems which would be solved.
“Our endeavour should be to avail irrigation, power and other facilities to the farmers. The 1,300 farmers who have agreed for sugarcane farming should be informed about various kinds of benefits from this farming,” the Collector said.
Notably on December 14 this year, Chief Minister Raman Singh had laid the foundation stone of a Co-operative sugar factory with sugarcane crushing capacity of 2500 metric tonnes in Kabirdham district.
The factory will be constructed at Biseshar village of Pandaria block at a cost of Rs163.12 crore.
The factory would premises would be spread in an area measuring over 80 hectares.
“Over 10,000 farmers in this region are the stock holders in this factory and thus they are its real owners,” the Chief Minister said while addressing the farmer .Singh, on the occasion,also distributed certificates among stock holder farmers.
He called upon farmers to take interest in sugarcane production apart from paddy cultivation.
The Chief Minister hoped that the acreage of sugarcane will increase in the region.
Earlier the farmers extended warm welcome to the Chief Minister at the foundation laying ceremony conducted at the factory site.
Notably this is the fourth sugar factory of the State and second in Kabirdham district based on Cooperative modal. The two other sugar factories are already functioning at Kerta of Surajpur district and Karkabhat of Balod.
This upcoming sugar factory which has been named after India’s Iron man Sardar Vallabbhai Patel will benefit about 20,000 farmers living in Pandaria region of Kabirdham districts besides Mungeli and Bemetara districts.
The sugar factory will also produce about 14 MW of power through biomass produced by the factory which is sufficient enough to power about 20,000 houses.
The foundation laying ceremony was marked with presence of Cooperative and Culture Minister Dayaldas Baghel, Agriculture and Water Resource Minister Brijmohan Agrawal and others.
Notably, in July month, the Kabeerdham district administration had prepared a working plan for ensuring smooth purchase of sugarcane from farmers at Bhoramdeo sugar mill at Kawardha.
The district administration is expecting bumper sugarcane produce between 10 to 11 lakh metric tonnes in the district this season.