The Hindu Business Line : Lack of hands for harvest hits sugar mills

Bitter truth
Sugar mills in TN and AP are the ones badly hit.
Labour cost up by about Rs 70-100 a tonne.
Mechanisation option being explored.

Chennai , April 12

So near yet so far — this sums up the situation for mills that are hit by shortage of sugarcane, even as its production mounts.

The problem: Shortage of labour for harvesting the cane in the fields. Manual labour is moving to the construction industry and other infrastructure projects. The solution would be to go for mechanised harvesting. While harvesting is essentially the responsibility of the farmers, the sugar mills bear the brunt of the shortage. There have been instances of plant shutdown or slowdown because of labour limitation, say industry sources.

Rising costs

Sugar mills in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are hit by the shortage of manual labour. Labour costs are on the increase, but even in the face of increasing costs some sugar mills have not been able to work up to maximum capacity because sugarcane arrivals to the mills have been slow.

Migrant labour from Bihar is coming to Tamil Nadu. But these labourers need to be trained. For now, the numbers are low but could increase in the coming season.

Problem felt across TN

According to Mr Ram V. Tyagarajan, Chairman and Managing Director, Thiru Arooran Sugars, labour shortage for sugarcane harvesting is a problem felt across the State. It is a serious problem during the current season and is bound to become more difficult with the expected increase in sugarcane production in the coming season.

According to industry estimates, during the current season sugarcane output in Tamil Nadu could exceed 200 lakh tonnes. And for the 2006-07 season, sugarcane output would be higher by about 10-15 per cent.

Mr N. Ramanathan, Director (Finance), Ponni Sugars, said the labour cost over the previous season had gone up by about Rs 70-100 a tonne. Last season, farmers had paid about Rs 150 a tonne, but were now paying up to Rs 220-300 a tonne.

Mr Tyagarajan said with the capacity to increase manual labour limited, mechanisation was the only option. But here too the constraints were the small size of land holdings, and in coastal areas the nature of the soil, which did not suit the equipment. "If pushed to the wall, the sugar mills will have to invest in mechanised harvesters," he said.

MULLING MECHANISATION

According to sugar millers based in Andhra Pradesh, the sugar mills in Nellore and Chittoor depended on migrant labourers from Tamil Nadu. But now with the shortage in Tamil Nadu, they are looking at labourers from other States. The mills in Andhra Pradesh are also exploring options for mechanisation. The problem has been felt in the major sugarcane areas in Andhra Pradesh.

Mechanical harvesters have been used earlier, but the practice did not catch on because manual labour was cheap. But with the increase in manual labour cost, mechanisation is being explored. Just look at the numbers involved, say sugar millers.

NOT ENOUGH LABOURERS

At Rs 200 a labourer for every tonne of cane, the harvesting cost works out to about Rs 400 crore to cut the current season's output of 200 lakh tonnes. But even at this cost there are not enough labourers.

But mechanisation has to be a long-term solution, as machines have to be adapted to Indian conditions and farmers have to shift to appropriate planting systems for the machines to operate in the fields. But this is inevitable in the coming years, they say.

Related Stories:
Farming activity hit in TN

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