Ethanol production to enhance TN sugarcane farmers livelihoods

TIRUCHY: The growth of ethanol in the biofuel sector in the last five years has amply enhanced the sugar sector and the livelihood of sugarcane farmers, as the conversion of sugar into ethanol has rendered better financial positions for sugar mills, in turn, benefiting farmers.

The swift payments, reduced working capital requirements, and less blocking of funds enable the sugar mills to make timely payments of cane dues of farmers, whereby the chances of farmers enhancing the acreage of sugarcane cultivation increases, and in turn the revenue generated through this cash crop cultivation augments.

According to official sources, the Ethanol Blended with Petrol (EBP) Programme has saved foreign exchange as well as strengthened the energy security of the country, and has also reduced dependence on imported fossil fuel. A target has been set to divert more than 60 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) of excess sugar to ethanol by 2025. This would solve the problem of high inventories of sugar and improve the liquidity of mills thereby resulting in timely payment of cane dues of farmers and will also generate employment opportunities in rural areas. Additionally, the use of ethanol with petrol will reduce pollution and improve air quality.

“As the recovery rate for sugarcane cultivated in Tamil Nadu is at 9.5%, the canes are beneficial in generating ethanol, and the state government should focus on biofuel production instead of diverting the canes for the distilleries,” said N Veerasekaran, the State secretary of the Bharathiya Kisan Sangam.

He noted over 60% of sugarcane growers in the State either cultivated alternative crops or quit farming altogether due to the low recovery rate and the government’s failure to develop high-yield sugarcanes. Thus, Tamil Nadu which topped in sugarcane cultivation has moved down to fifth place in the country, he said.

Swamimalai Sundara Vimalnathan said that there are as many as 38 sugar mills in Tamil Nadu including 13 private mills and appealed to the government to establish an ethanol unit in every mill so that it would boost biofuel production and boost confidence among the farmers to enhance sugarcane cultivation acreage.

He also suggested the government can use NABARD assistance to augment the livelihood of sugarcane farmers across the state thereby Tamil Nadu will become a model for every state in this concept.

It is expected that India will become the third largest ethanol-producing country in the world by 2025-26 and the farmers will play a major role in achieving this feat.