Talks between farming groups and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi in New Delhi on Monday ended without agreement on their demands, prompting plans to obstruct the Hattaragi and Hire Bagewadi toll plazas along the Pune–Bengaluru National Highway.
Pujeri, who holds a leadership post within the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, told reporters that delegations drawn from the KRRS, Hasiru Sene, Kabbu Belegarara Okkoota, and allied farming bodies — numbering upwards of 100 in total — made the journey to New Delhi to take part in talks with Joshi. Among the items the delegation put forward was a call for higher pricing floors — a lifted Minimum Support Price covering sugar alongside an upward revision to the Fair and Remunerative Price applied to sugarcane. No agreement came out of the discussions, Pujeri confirmed.
Pujeri conveyed that growers had drawn attention to a steep climb in the cost of agricultural inputs over time, even as the minimum support price for sugar had gone without any adjustment across a nine-year stretch. Pujeri indicated that the minister requested no fewer than thirty days before reaching any determination on the matter. Pujeri noted that the administration had shown willingness to revise fuel prices on short notice, yet told farmers their proposals would take a full month to consider.
His argument was that the event had been convened not to tackle the concerns farmers put forward, but to divert attention away from their ongoing protest. Pricing tiers for sugar formed another point on the list of demands, with factories seeking the ability to charge industrial buyers at a rate above what ordinary consumers pay.
Pujeri noted that the talks concluded without the proposal gaining acceptance, adding that farmers had spent four months pressing for fair compensation and viable prices for their sugarcane. Protesters contend that the central government has not addressed the concerns they have raised. Pujeri contended that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi had positioned themselves in opposition to the welfare of farming communities.
The rally represents one component of a coordinated push by cane growers who have been seeking improved returns on both the raw crop and processed sugar. Representatives of farming groups put forward a statewide rally scheduled for the following month.
Among the positions put forward by the farming groups are calls for sugar mills to open their crushing operations within seven days, for outstanding payments owed to cane growers to be settled in full, for a price guarantee above last year's rates, and for both sugarcane and maize producers to draw a larger portion of revenue generated through ethanol production. After Monday's negotiations concluded without an agreement, farming groups announced they would reinstate their protest by placing blockades at the Hattaragi and Hire Bagewadi toll plazas.
