Farmers have been protesting in parts of North Karnataka, a major sugarcane producing region, in districts such as Belgavi, Bagalkot, Vijayapura and Haveri, seeking better prices for the past few days.
Sugarcane farmers in Karnataka will get a price of ₹3,300 per tonne for the 2025-26 season, after the state government and the sugar factory owners decided to provide an additional ₹100, above the fair and remunerative price of ₹3,200.
On Friday evening Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah announced that the state and the sugar factories will give ₹50 each, above the FRP of ₹3,200, totalling ₹3,300 per tonne. This excludes the harvesting and transportation cost, which is borne by the mills.
Farmers have been protesting in parts of North Karnataka, a major sugarcane producing region, in districts such as Belgavi, Bagalkot, Vijayapura and Haveri, seeking better prices for the past few days. Farmers have been demanding a price of ₹3,500 per tonne, while the sugar millers had ruled out paying any price above the FRP. The stand-off had resulted in farmers protest disrupting the cane supply to several factories in the region.
Following the discussions between the state and the sugar factories on Friday evening, it was decided that the factories will pay ₹3,250 as FRP, while the state will contribute an additional ₹50 per tonne. This will result in a net realisation of ₹3,300 per tonne for the farmers.
Karnataka is the third largest sugarcane producer after Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. On above normal monsoon and good availability of water, the sugar cane production is seen higher this year with crushing likely to exceed 6 crore tonnes against 5.6 crore tonnes last year.
For the 2025-26 season, the Centre has declared a FRP of ₹355 per quintal, linked to the basic sugar recovery rate of 10.25 per cent. The FRP is linked to a basic sugar recovery rate and premium is paid to farmers for higher recovery to incentivise productivity and efficiency.
The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices had recommended that to promote efficiency and incentivise farmers for higher sugar recovery, for every 0.1 percentage point increase in sugar recovery over and above 10.25 per cent, the FRP should be increased by ₹3.46 per quintal. The Commission also recommends that for every 0.1 percentage point decline in sugar recovery below 10.25 per cent, the FRP should be reduced by 3.46 per quintal.
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Published on November 8, 2025
