Hubli: If Singapore with its tall buildings is synonymous with prosperity today, so is the little hamlet of Singapur, some 15 kms from Haveri, that closely resembles it in name, thanks to its sugarcane growers, who are making money while farmers elsewhere in the state are struggling to make a living.
Unlike most farmers of other villages, who are weighed under debt owing to their never ending battle with the sugar mills for a good price for their crop, Singapur with its population of around 1,200 is not at their mercy anymore. Its farmers have been producing jaggery in their own units for nearly a decade now, and making a handsome profit while ignoring a sugar factory that is merely three kilometers away.
Things were not always this way, however. Until a few years ago the Singapur farmers too were entirely dependent on the only sugar factory in Haveri district and fought with it regularly for a good price. But then they decided to take it no longer and and hit upon the idea of setting up their own jaggery manufacturing unit in 2004.
Today there are around 60 such units in Singapur and the nearby Shigihalli village. Each unit crushes around ten tonnes of sugarcane every day and sells jaggery for Rs 2,850 a quintal in the open market.
The farmers who produce 1.1 quintal of jaggery from crushing every tonne of sugarcane, are a happy lot as they earn Rs 500 to Rs 600 more per tonne this way than growers who sell their crop to sugar mills.
"We were tired of agitating for a better price for our cane as the factories would not offer more than Rs 2,000 a tonne. We slowly began to produce jaggery by setting up our own production unit at a cost of Rs 4 lakh. We earn more this way and no longer need to wait for the sugar mills to settle our dues, " says a farmer, Basanagouda.
The units have also created job opportunities for several unemployed youth who sell the jaggery door-to-door, bringing even more prosperity to the village.
