A meeting between representatives of Sugar Mills Association and farmers on Friday to set sugarcane price for this season ended inconclusively.

The meeting, which lasted till late night, failed to reach a conclusion after the association expressed reluctance to agree to the farmers’ demand to raise sugarcane price in line with increased sugar price.

The farmers demanded that sugarcane price be raised by 40 percent — the same rate at which sugar price has increased — but the association said it could raise the price by only Rs40 per quintal, in line with the hike offered by Riga Mill based in India’s Bihar state.

Previously, the price set by Riga Mill used to be considered yardstick for setting the price in Nepal. However, Kapil Muni Mainalai, president of Sugarcane Producers Association, said the price set by the Indian mill could not be taken as benchmark given Nepali sugar mills had offered far less price to farmers than what Riga Mill paid to farmers in India for the past two years.

“Their (the mill owners’) proposal only benefits them, hitting the farmers hard,” he said. “Since the price of sugar has increased by 40 percent, the price of the raw material must increase accordingly. We have taken a firm stand.”

The mill owners have proposed to set sugarcane price at Rs500 per quintal, but the farmers are not ready to accept anything below Rs600 per quintal.

Bed Bahadur Budhathoki, a sugarcane farmer who attended the meeting, said the mills were trying eat into farmers’ profits. “Sugar price has escalated but, mill owners are not willing to pass on the benefits to the farmers,” said Budhathoki. “It is injustice.”

Sugar producers, however, said sugar price keeps on fluctuating and that it cannot be the only criterion set sugarcane price. Both the parties have agreed to sit for another round of talks after a couple of weeks at Simara.