| The matter rocked the state Assembly when Jalam Singh Patel and Sunilam, both MLAs, raised the issue. |
| They alleged the farmers were being harassed and compelled to sell cane at Rs 40 per quintal against the minimum support price of Rs 82 per quintal. |
| The farmers of Betul and Narsinghpur districts are the worst sufferers, alleged Patel. The Khandsari millers (small mills that produce raw sugar) and sugar mills were offering a maximum of Rs 90 per quintal. |
| "The procurement price has been stagnant for the last three years," he said, and added, "Farmers must be offered Rs 140-148 per quintal as recommended by Agriculture Science Center, Narsinghpur." |
| The sugar mills are scattered at different points. As a result, farmers do not get transport subsidy which is calculated on a kilometer basis. "The state government's plan to offer transport subsidy to cane-growers has not come out of the drawing board," Patel said. |
| The farmers had set their fields ablaze and had destroyed one-third of the total crop during the last three years, the MLAs alleged. |
| However, while brushing aside the allegation, State Agriculture Minister Gopal Bhargava said sugar mills were procuring cane at a minimum of Rs 81.18 per quintal. However, khandsari millers were procuring cane at the price on which the farmers had agreed, he claimed. |
| He also denied that Agriculture Science Center had recommended any price for cane growers. Instead, it had conducted an analysis of cane production viability, he said. |
| He informed the House that a transport subsidy of Rs 2.77 crore had been disbursed to 4,262 farmers during 2006-07. The transport subsidy is effective from March last year. |
| The crop acreage, according to him, had gone up from 63,200 hectares in 2006-07 to 92,800 hectares during 2007-08. "Mills in the private sector are also likely to come up in the days to come," the minister said. |
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