Sugarcane farmers on protest path again to seek fair share in sugar and ethanol revenues

The ‘Hubballi Chalo’ padayatra began in Belagavi district on October 14. | Photo Credit: BADIGER PK

The two-day national highway blockade by sugarcane farmers and the ongoing “Hubballi Chalo” padayatra, which began from Hattargi in Belagavi district on October 14, has once again brought to the fore the long-unresolved issues affecting cane growers.

The latest agitation has also put focus on Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister for Education, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, as the farmers are directly demanding an answer from him. In March 2026, a delegation of farmers had met Mr. Joshi in Hubballi and sought better prices for sugarcane. They pointed out that the minimum selling price (MSP) of sugar had remained unchanged at ₹31 a kg for nine years. They demanded a fair and remunerative price (FRP) of ₹5,500 per tonne of sugarcane and a State-Advised Price (SAP) to bridge any gap between the price paid by mills and the price fixed by the government.

No action yet

But when nothing moved before the start of the sugarcane crushing season, thousands of sugarcane growers marched to Hubballi on September 29, the hometown of Mr. Joshi, seeking concrete assurances, only to be called to New Delhi for a meeting of all stakeholders from sugarcane-growing States on October 12. While the Union government termed the outcome of the meeting as “positive”, the farmers were upset and felt their demands were “not even heard properly”, resulting in blocking of the Pune–Bengaluru National Highway in Belagavi, and other parts of north Karnataka.