Pabna’s sugarcane farmers decry closure of nearby mill

Afsar Ali, a marginal farmer based in the catchment area of Pabna Sugar Mill in Ishwardi upazila, grew sugarcane on three bighas of land last year with an aim to sell the crops at the nearby processing plant.

However, due to the government's sudden decision to shutter six loss-making sugar mills across the country, including the one in Pabna, Ali was forced to sell his crops to the North Bengal Sugar Mills in Natore at the last moment.

After facing these difficulties, Ali decided to leave sugarcane cultivation and instead planted various vegetables this year.

However, he laments the loss of the once highly profitable crop.

"Sugarcane brings more profit than any other crop because the price of sugarcane never falls. Vegetable cultivation is comparatively not profitable enough," Ali said.

Md Ansar Ali Dilu, another sugarcane farmer, cultivated sugarcane on 15 bighas of land this year compared to 25 bighas the year before. He leased out the remaining 10 bighas of land to other farmers.

Earnings from each bigha of sugarcane are approximately Tk 40,000 to Tk 50,000, while sugar mills also provide cash aid, seeds, fertiliser, and insecticide to help enhance production.

Dilu expects to get around 6,000 maunds (one maund equals 37 kilograms) of sugarcane this year to earn a minimum of Tk 8 lakh.

Making matters worse, though, he has no marketing facility for the crop, he added.

"Pabna Sugar Mill denies taking responsibility for our crop this year. We don't sell sugarcane in typical haats or other markets, so if the mill authority does not take the crop, we have to destroy them in the field," said Dilu, also the secretary of the Pabna Sugar Mill Farmers Association.

According to the Bangladesh Sugar & Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC), sugarcane cultivation fell drastically in the 2021-22 season after six state-owned sugar mills were shut.

In the 2020-21 sugarcane crushing season, 1.27 lakh acres of land were brought under cultivation to produce 16.43 lakh tonnes of sugarcane, according to the BSFIC's annual report.

A total of 49,908 acres have been brought under sugarcane cultivation in the catchment areas of 15 sugar mills in the current fiscal year, with an expected production target of 6.57 lakh tonnes.

Due to the closure of the six state-owned sugar mills, sugarcane production has fallen drastically this year, the annual report said.

The report blamed negative media coverage about the closure of the mills that discouraged farmers from cultivating sugarcane this year.

The industries ministry issued a statement on December 2, 2020, ordering the closure of the six mills as they had sustained prolonged losses.

The mills are Pabna Sugar Mill, Setabganj Sugar Mills, Kushtia Sugar Mills, Panchagar Sugar Mills Ltd, Shyampur Sugar Mill, and Rangpur Sugar Mills.

However, the decision to shut them down right before the crushing season left farmers disappointed. Now, farmers are demanding the reopening of the mills for the sake of their livelihoods.

"Sugar mills are the only agro-based state-owned industry for the farmers, but the government stopped production at six sugar mills without considering the farmers' interests," said Shahjahan Ali Badsha, president of the farmers' association at the Pabna Sugar Mill.

With these mills lying idle, the machines they once used have been left abandoned.

During a visit to Pabna Sugar Mill last week, this correspondent found that much of the factory's facilities are wasting away due to a lack of maintenance.

Humid conditions lead to condensation on the machines, which then turn to rust. Since they have not been maintained over the years, most of them will become permanently damaged if the mills are not reopened soon, according to Modon Sarkar, the factory manager.

More than 200 trollies, 40 tractors, and other vehicles are used to carry sugarcane. Now processed sugar is sitting idle in the mill's yard with parasites growing on them, he said.

Md Saif Uddin, managing director of Pabna Sugar Mill, said these vehicles would soon be sent to other running factories.

A total of 269 of 589 employees of the mill have been transferred to other mills within a year of its closure, while the rest will be transferred soon.

"Due to a lack of manpower for the maintenance work of the huge properties, progress has been hampered," Saif Uddin said.

Set up in 1992 at the cost of about Tk 79 crore, Pabna Sugar Mill went into production with a yearly production target of 15,000 tonnes of sugar by crushing 1.5 lakh tonnes of sugarcane.

However, the mill never reached its full production capacity, incurring around Tk 400 crore in losses since its establishment.