“After my daughter’s marriage on May 14, I am a free man, I could do anything,” said the visually impaired farmer. “I decided to grow cane only after the district central cooperative bank controlled by Deshmukh gave out loans,” he said pointing to his crop wilting away in the sun.

Experts attribute the crisis to poor planning on the part of the government. The Centre’s decision to stop mixing ethanol in petrol and the ban on sugar exports imposed in mid-2006 when global sugar prices were high, only to be lifted in March this year when the prices had fallen, are behind the mess, he said.

To add to that, the state hasn’t restarted sick sugar factories for crushing the excess cane. Although the state government has extended the crushing season, the 163 cooperative and private factories are not in a position to crush the excess cane. Incidentally, the state has announced that it will ensure factories run till the cane in their areas has been crushed.

It has also announced Rs 25,000 as compensation per hectare of uncrushed cane and allowed factories to crush cane sourced from a 250-km radius. But around 50 factories have closed down after crushing cane in the area.