Planters penalized by a calculation that does not include productivity gains from industry and the mechanization of harvesting
31 July 2024, by
Yesterday, planters blocked the Tereos sugar factory in Bois-Rouge. This was the result of the price of sugar cane paid by the industry to the planters being too low. For Jean-Michel Moutama, president of the CGPER, the problem comes from the formula for calculating the price of sugar cane, which is 40 years old and has not taken into account changes in cultivation practices and productivity gains by the industry. For example, some varieties are more fibrous, produce more energy but are less rich in sugar: the planter is penalized while the mass of raw material purchased by the industry increases.
The Tereos Bois-Rouge factory was blocked yesterday by a demonstration of planters with the CGPER and the UPNA. According to the formula for calculating the price of sugar cane, the price paid to planters is lower than the start-up advance of 30 euros per tonne paid by Tereos. In the end, it is planters who owe money to the manufacturer, Tereos.
Jean-Michel Moutama, president of the CGPER, was present at this action yesterday. For the CGPER, there is no question of a minimum price below the cost of production. But this price is difficult to determine, because farms are in very different situations.
For the president of the CGPER, the main problem in paying for sugar cane comes from the price calculation formula.
"This formula is 40 years old, and many things have changed since then," he said. First of all, the harvesting, which was then almost entirely manual, has been mechanized. Long cane harvesting machines reduce the sugar content. "The varieties have evolved. We are asked to plant cane richer in fiber to produce more energy, but the planter is then penalized by a fiber content that is too high. In the Cane Convention, we obtained 3 euros per ton, but is this a fair price?", asks the union leader.
"The industrial process has evolved. The sugar extraction rate is better, is the technical gap that penalizes us still justified," adds Jean-Michel Moutama. "The CGPER is asking that the Ministry of Agriculture launch an audit of the situation of planters and manufacturers to provide full transparency in the sector," continues the president of the CGPER, "the State, neutral, can develop a new formula taking into account all these developments, in particular the productivity gains of the manufacturer." For Jean-Michel Moutama, the speech of the successive Regional Directors of Agriculture saying "reach an agreement within the sector" is no longer tenable. He considers that the State has the power to act to "restore clarity" in the cane-sugar-alcohol-energy sector.
In the meantime, the CGPER is calling for the harvest to continue. "Compared to last year and having started the campaign earlier, the sugar levels is one point higher. Now is the time to harvest before the rains arrive," concludes Jean-Michel Moutama.
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