RAUTAHAT, March 10: The sugar factories in Rautahat and Sarlahi districts are facing a shortage of sugarcane. As sugarcane farmers stopped cultivating, the sugar factories in these districts are not getting sugarcane.
Sugar factory operators said that there is a shortage of sugarcane in the main season. Baiju Babra, director of Baba Baijunath Sugar and Chemical Industry in Katharia, Rautahat, said that there is a shortage of sugarcane in the main season.
Farmers face financial stress
Yog Narayan Rajak, sugarcane manager of Indu Shankar Sugar Factory in Harion, Sarlahi, said that since last week, the factory has not received the required amount of sugarcane. He said that the cycle of closing down the factory due to sugarcane shortage is going on.
Annapurna Sugar Factory in Sarlahi's Dhankaul is also shutting down and operating the factory while waiting for the farmers. Shailendra Gupta, director of the factory, said that there is a problem in the operation of the factory due to the shortage of sugarcane. Gupta said, “We operate the factory after bringing the sugarcane by waiting for the farmers and after the sugarcane stops coming, we wait for the farmers.”
It has been seen that Baba Baijunath, Indu Shankar and Annapurna sugar factories have adopted the strategy of operating the industry as and when the farmers deliver sugarcane.
Although three factories in Rautahat and Sarlahi are still in operation, Mahalakshmi Sugar Factory in Bagdaha of Godaita in Sarlahi has been closed. Mahalakshmi crushed 1.2 million quintals of sugarcane and has been closed for this year, according to Pawan Singh, sugarcane manager of the factory.
