NEW DELHI: A group of farmers on Tuesday voiced support for ethanol during a meeting with Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at Krishi Bhawan, amid general protests against the use of the E20 bio-fuel mix in vehicles, saying ethanol would increase farmers’ income and secure the country’s energy.Chouhan told them that the central govt’s thinking was clear that the benefit of the ethanol programme should reach the entire chain from the field to the fuel tank, but the biggest share should go in the interest of the farmer.The farmers, under the banner of the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Samanvay Samiti, told the minister that ethanol was a big opportunity for farming, provided its policy was farmer-centric and the right price of the crop reached the farmer directly.In India, sugarcane contributes to 30-35% of total ethanol production while the remaining 65-70% is derived from grains such as maize and rice.Farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu were present at the meeting. They insisted that the real benefit of the ethanol programme should go to the farmer, not only to companies or middlemen.They said that with ethanol, farm produce would not remain limited to the mandis, but would reach petrol pumps and the energy market, creating a new and stronger market for farmers. They told the minister that if ethanol was made from sugarcane, maize, rice and other feedstock, farmers would get more buyers, and crop spoilage or storage problems would be reduced.Extending their full support for ethanol, they said it was necessary that whether it was maize or sugarcane, farmers should get proper prices for any crop. Farmer representatives said, “We want the ethanol policy to create a new path for farming, not a new worry for us.
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We are with ethanol, if ethanol also stays with us.”The farmers demanded that the agriculture ministry and farmer organisations should jointly explain clearly which crops would benefit from ethanol and how, and how a shift could be made from water-intensive crops to drought-tolerant crops.Chouhan assured that the policy would be reviewed to maintain a balance in the prices and demand of maize, rice, sugarcane and other feedstock. He said decisions would be taken only from the perspective of farmer interest, especially the benefit of maize farmers. He added that the negative narrative on ethanol would be countered through scientific studies and technical reports, and a fact-based dialogue would be carried out in partnership with farmers.
