Sugarcane purchase price is unstable, farmers suffer losses

(Baonghean) -This year, the sugarcane yield in Tan Ky is expected to be higher than last year. However, sugarcane growers are not very happy because in many places the sugarcane quality is poor, the sugar content is not guaranteed, and the factory does not pay a fixed price.

For nearly a month now, farmers in Tan Ky district have been harvesting sugarcane. Trucks loaded with sugarcane have been lumbering along the raw material roads, heading to Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company. After a year of care, everyone is excited about the harvest. The sugarcane fields have been neatly harvested, and farmers have had time to burn leaves, clean the fields, and plow the roots. In addition, many sugarcane fields have already bloomed.

Mr. Ho Dinh Loi, Tan Hoa hamlet, Nghia Phuc commune, was upset: "My family has a total of 5 sao of sugarcane. When the company started the pressing season, the agricultural staff informed the family to harvest the sugarcane. On November 21, I cut a truckload of sugarcane, weighing 12.5 tons. The company assessed the sugarcane as the worst quality, because the sugar content was only 7.2%, so they bought it at 730,000 VND/ton. After a few days, I harvested the remaining 9 tons, but the company paid me 950,000 VND/ton, because the sugar content measured was over 9%. What makes Mr. Loi wonder is that farmers do not know how to use the sugarcane measuring device, so we listen to what the company says.

Farmers in Nghia Phuc commune (Tan Ky) harvest sugarcane for the 2011 pressing season.

Talking to us, Mr. Nguyen Ba Quy - Deputy Director of Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company, said: Before the crushing season, the company temporarily calculated the sugarcane purchase price at the field for farmers at 950 thousand VND/ton (type 1), which means sugarcane with sugar reserves of 9 CCS or more; sugarcane with sugar reserves of 8.5 - 9 CCS (type 2) has a purchase price equal to 70% of type 1 sugarcane; sugarcane with sugar content below 8 CCS is not purchased by the company. The reason the company sets different purchase prices is because this year the white cottonhopper has developed strongly and the flooding has been prolonged, affecting the quality of the sugarcane. That is also why this year's crushing season is nearly a month later than last year's, the purpose is to extend the growing period of the sugarcane. This year's crushing season started on November 21st, and by December 8th, the company had purchased 40,000 tons of sugarcane, most of which were grade 1. Among them, there were also many trucks of sugarcane with sugar content below 8 CCS, but the company had to buy them to share the difficulties with the farmers. Mr. Quy affirmed that farmers suspected that the company's sugarcane measuring device was dishonest. This device has been inspected annually by the authorities. Last year, the sugarcane grew well, without white cotton aphids, so 100% of the sugarcane output was grade 1, and the company only bought at one price. This year, because the aphids developed too much, the quality of the sugarcane was poor. The company tried to arrange to purchase sugarcane for the farmers as quickly as possible to limit the reduction in sugarcane quality. Because the sugarcane has flowered, the sugarcane's sugar content will definitely decrease, and if left for a long time, the quality will decrease even more.

Mr. Nguyen Ba Thuc - Head of the Tan Ky District Agriculture Department also admitted that although this year's sugarcane yield will be higher than last year, sugarcane growers are not happy because the sugarcane purchase price of Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company is not consistent. This is a year when Tan Ky sugarcane growers have struggled, suffering losses from the cost of preventing white cotton linters to selling sugarcane.

Xuan Hoang