Belagavi/Haveri/Bagalkot: Sugarcane farmers demanding a hike in minimum support price (MSP) and holding a protest-demonstration at Gurlapur Cross for the past eight days have deferred their planned statewide blockade of national highways by two days, following an appeal from sugar minister Shivanand Patil on Thursday.Responding to the state govt’s request, agitating farmers have granted two days’ time to the administration to announce a revised MSP, though their agitation will continue. In Haveri, however, district unit functionaries of the cane growers’ association staged a protest outside the district administration’s office, demanding a minimum price of Rs 3,500 per tonne for their produce, prevention of fraud in crop recovery, and installation of govt-approved scales at sugar mills. Meanwhile, in Bagalkot, agitating farmers blocked the road in Lokapura, Mudhol, and Bilgi. Lokapur experienced a bandh-like situation with normal life disrupted due to the farmers’ stir. Addressing cane farmers in Belagavi, minister Patil said: “I will take this up with the Centre to correct the injustice being done to farmers.”Appealing for restraint, the minister urged farmers not to let anger guide their decisions. “Give me two days to find a solution,” he assured. In response, Karnataka Rajya Raita Sangha president Chunappa Pujeri and honorary president Shashikant Guruji said: “We are deferring the highway blockade by two days. The minister must return to this stage by 7 pm on Saturday and announce the final price.” Otherwise, the blockade will begin “from Sunday onwards”, they threatened.Earlier in Belagavi, Patil told reporters the govt was making a sincere effort to resolve the issue amicably. He clarified that fair and remunerative price (FRP) comes under the purview of the central govt. “Pralhad Joshi, Union minister from Karnataka, handles the sugar portfolio, but no one mentions his name,” Patil pointed out. Camping under a tent just outside the district administration’s office, farmers in Haveri shouted slogans against the state govt and the sugar minister, with local religious leaders, members from the state farmers’ associations, green army functionaries, and various Kannada organisations joining them.After listening to the farmers’ demands, D C Vijay Mahantesh Danammanavar said factories would be instructed to conduct sugarcane recovery in the presence of farmers.In Bagalkot, as farmers blocked the Bagalkot-Belagavi highway at Basaveshwara Circle, traffic was disrupted on the Jamkhandi and Vijayapura routes.
