Sugarcane farmers have said they want the price for their crop raised to Rs705 per quintal from Rs590 last year while the government stalls fixing the minimum support price for this season's harvest.

But it looks like the cane growers will have to wait for a new government to be sworn in until anybody will deal with their demand, officials said. The political parties have been engaged in hectic manoeuvring to put together a coalition since the end of the general elections.

Farmers say that the cost of production has risen steeply because diesel, wages and fertiliser have become very expensive.

The sugarcane crushing season began in mid-November, but farmers are still waiting for the government to publish the minimum support price.

On Sunday, sugarcane farmers of Sarlahi submitted a memorandum to Indu Shankar Sugar Mill asking for Rs705 per quintal for their sugarcane for this crushing season.

Last year, the government had increased the minimum support price of sugarcane by 8.39 percent to Rs590 per quintal.

The floor price is the minimum price farmers get for their crops, and it is normally announced before the harvest on the basis of the recommendations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development.

Usually, as sugarcane is listed as an industrial crop, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies used to present the minimum support price to the cabinet. Government officials said the Agriculture Ministry would perform the task this year.

“Sugarcane farmers have been having a hard time because of inflation,” said Kapil Muni Mainali, president of the Federation of Sugarcane Producers Association. “The cost of production of sugarcane has shot up.”

He says that considering the price rises in the market, the proposed rate of Rs705 per quintal is appropriate.

According to him, it is difficult to get subsidised fertiliser, the cost of diesel has increased sharply, the charge for ploughing a field has doubled, farm wages have gone up and the transportation costs have doubled.

"The retail price of sugar has reached Rs95-100 per kg. The cost of everything has gone up, but the minimum support price has been hovering around Rs500 for many years.”

Mainali said delays in the formation of a new government would hurt sugarcane farmers as the current caretaker government is least bothered to fix the minimum rate.

The Agriculture Ministry said that the announcement of the support price would likely be deferred.

“Technically, the Department of Agriculture has recommended the minimum support price. But since this is a political issue, all parties including sugar producers, sugarcane growers and the government have to agree,” said Prakash Kumar Sanjel, joint secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development.

“We will start discussions after a new agriculture minister is appointed,” he said.

Officials say there are complications as there is no chance of a new government being formed anytime soon.

They added that like in the past, it could take a long time for the price to be announced, and the suffering farmers may launch protests.

"The minimum support price is a very sensitive matter, and disclosing it before it is finalised could lead to unwanted repercussions," Sanjel said.

"It is not like setting the minimum price for paddy as the government purchases the crop if there are no buyers. In the case of sugarcane, the government fixes the rate buyers have to pay, so their consent is necessary. Things will get moving only after a new administration takes over.”

In 2018, the government started the practice of fixing the floor price of sugarcane in a bid to end constant confrontations between sugarcane farmers and sugar producers. It had become a tradition for sugarcane growers and sugar mills to engage in a bitter dispute over the floor price during harvest time every year.

Before the government began setting the floor price, sugarcane prices in Nepal were normally based on the rates paid by Indian mills to their farmers.

According to sugarcane farmers, they suffer heavy losses as a result of delays in payment for their crops, and delays in the announcement of the minimum support price every year.

"The farmers have started harvesting their sugarcane crops while the sugar mills have also started crushing it," said Mainali.

"Sugarcane farming has been declining by around 15-20 percent annually in the past three years," said Mainali. He said that a sugar mill used to crush around 420,000 tonnes of sugarcane per season, but the figure shrank to around 230,000 tonnes last year.

"Four of the 14 sugar mills in the country have shut down as they could not operate at full capacity," Mainali said. "As production has been going down, more might fold."

According to Mainali, they do not propose the floor price to the government as it does take decisions in the interest of farmers.

“We do not trust the government. Last year too, the government set the minimum support price in its own way, and did not let the farmers and sugar mills discuss the price,” he said.