Sugarcane farmers in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra are rioting, and owners are refusing to open their mills citing high sugarcane prices. The government cannot solve the problem as long as sugar production is more than the demand. The buffer stock for sugar this season is nine million tonnes. While the season's production will be 25 million tonnes, the demand is only for 23 million tonnes. Exports are not possible because of low global prices of sugar. The only solution is to use mill machinery to make sugar from sugarcane juice, and convert at least 25 per cent of the juice into fuel grade ethanol and blend it with petrol. The government has said that oil marketing firms must come to a price agreement with ethanol producers, and five per cent ethanol addition to petrol has been made "mandatory". Alcohol from molasses must continue to be supplied to liquor and chemical industries - one of the oldest industries that employ millions. Also, the use of 85 billion litres of fuel ethanol worldwide has reduced greenhouse emissions by 100 million tonnes a year. India can also contribute to this cause.
K T Thampi, Mumbai
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