THAKURGAON, Dec 19: Thakurgaon sugar mills started production on Friday in 2014-2015 sugarcane crushing season. The event was inaugurated by the President of the Parliamentary Committee of Water Resources Ministry Ramesh Chandra Sen, MP.
On the occasion, a brief meeting was held in the sugar mills factory premises. The meeting was presided over by Managing Director of the mills SM Abdul Aziz. It was addressed, among others, by Ramesh Chandra Sen MP, Yasin Ali MP, Selina Jahan Lita MP, Deputy Commissioner Mukesh Chandra Biswas, Zila Parishad Administrator and district Awami League General Secretary Sadeque Qureshi, district Krishak League General Secretary Alauddin Sarkar, Central Sugarcane Farmers' Association President Ruhul Amin, General Secretary Abdus Salam, Workers' Union President Nuruzzaman and General Secretary Abdul Quddus.
After the meeting a milad and doa mahfil were also held.
A source of the mills said, in the current season, 5,800 metric tons of sugarcane would be produced by crushing 80,000 metric tons of sugarcane. The targeted sugar recovery is 7.25% in 90 days. The source further said that at present about 6,280 acres of sugarcane are awaiting harvest in the field.
At present, the sugarcane price fixed by the Sugar Corporation is Tk 100 per maund (40 kg). But the farmers demanded Tk 150 per maund, said Central Sugarcane Farmers' Association President Ruhul Amin. He further said if the sugar corporation fixes sugarcane price at Tk 150 per maund and the mills can assure the payment of sugarcane to the farmers regularly then the supply of sugarcane in the mills would be assured.   
Another source of the mills said, at present 12,000 metric tons of sugar worth about Tk 50 crores have remained stockpiled in the mills warehouse. But for the sugarcane price only about Tk 15 crores can be paid to the farmers. The source further said that if the mills could sell the stockpiled sugar remained in the warehouse, the mills could easily pay sugarcane price to the farmers.
The Managing Director of the mills SM Abdul Aziz said in the current sugarcane plantation season the mills fixed up a target of 12,000 acres of land in the mills zone. For this the mills disbursed a loan of about Tk 5 crorers to 5,500 farmers of the mills zone in terms of seed, fertiliser and pesticide.