Sugarcane farmers demand reforms and ethanol mandate

In India, nearly one thousand sugarcane farmers held a rally at the sugar commissioner’s office in Pune. The farmers are demanding the lifting of the ban on sugar exports, the creation of an ethanol blending mandate, permission to trade molasses between states, the cancellation of the levy quota, and to receive payments due to them from sugar factories. The farmers blame the government for being slow to implement reforms in the agriculture and sugarcane sectors and are planning another rally in New Delhi on December 12.