"Sugarcane farmers march to Kathmandu as their dues keep on piling", 29 December 2019

Rajesh Yadav, a sugarcane farmer from Ramnagar Rural Municipality in Sarlahi, arrived in Kathmandu...to protest against the government after he was denied payment of Rs1 million for his crop which he had supplied to the sugar mills on different occasions.

This year, the sugar mill where he had been supplying the cane announced that it was shutting down.

Like Yadav, hundreds of farmers in Sarlahi are worried. The best way they thought was to exert pressure on the government... A group of farmers started protesting against the government for being indifferent to them...

...factory owners have been investing the money earned from sugar production in other areas due to which they are not paying to farmers. “The factory owners made an agreement that they will make payment till mid-November, but that was false...

...Kapil Muni Mainali, president of Nepal Sugarcane Producers Federation, said that Annapurna Sugar Mill, Shree Ram Sugar Mill, Mahalaxmi Sugar Mill and three other sugar mills in Nawalparasi have shut down their operations...

...Factory owners had promised farmers that they will clear their dues in instalments but farmers said they cannot trust the mill owners.

An ad-hoc committee formed to exert pressure on the government and the sugar producers have been demanding that they should get Rs471.28 a quintal, the rate fixed by the government for the last year’s harvest and the subsidy amount of Rs1 billion allocated to them by the government.

...Farmers have complained that Mahalaxmi and Annapurna have been paying only Rs435 per quintal.