After sugarcane plantation suffered extensive damage because of red rot disease, farmers have demanded appropriate compensation.

Farmers of 24 VDCs of Sunsari and Morang districts had cultivated sugarcane in some 900 bigha of land. The plantation worth millions of rupees was damaged due to the red rot disease, they said.

It has caused huge loss to the farmers and as well as the sugar mill entrepreneurs, said Suresh Mehata, assistant manager at the Eastern Sugar Mills, Biratnagar.

Meanwhile, an expert team from the Agriculture Research Centre has been studying the affected area and will soon prepare a report, according the District Agriculture Office.

“We will be forced to take to the streets if the government does not provide us with appropriate compensation”, said Ram Adhin Yadav, a sugarcane farmer affected by the red rot disease.

Red rot is one of the major constraints in the profitable cultivation of sugarcane. This disease drastically retards the yield and considerably deteriorates the juice quantity and quality thus hitting both the cane growers and millers. RSS