Farmers have reduced their sugarcane cultivation due to low prices. They used to cultivate sugarcane on larger areas of land but have now switched to alternative crops. The declining prices and poor quality seeds provided by government sugar mills have led to dissatisfaction among farmers, prompting them to decrease sugarcane cultivation each year. Farmers complain that while the price of sugar has significantly increased in the last decade, the price of sugarcane has not kept pace. Consequently, many farmers have shifted to more profitable crops, and those still in sugarcane cultivation are selling it at higher prices to molasses manufacturers.
The Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC) acknowledges farmers’ dissatisfaction and has proposed increasing the sugarcane prices to the Ministry of Industries. However, the declining production of sugarcane and sugar in government mills and the need for better quality seeds pose additional challenges. The BSFIC suggests cultivating sugarcane with companion crops and developing new high-yielding sugarcane varieties through the Bangladesh Sugarcrop Research Institute.
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