Don’t be cruel

The plight of sugarcane farmers is a sign of continued neglect of the agriculture sector.

The government has compelled yet another group to take to the street. This time, sugarcane farmers from around a dozen districts, particularly from the country’s southern part, are in Kathmandu demanding that the decision to halve the subsidy amount provided to them be revoked and the previous level of subsidies be restored. The government had been providing Rs70 a quintal in subsidy to the farmers producing sugarcanes. But a Cabinet meeting on July 7 decided to halve the amount even as the farmers in the country had been complaining that production costs had risen sharply, making their trade unsustainable.