Ka, Jan. 20 -- Sugarcane farmer Ashok Yadav of Rautahat used to plant the cash crop on 10 bighas till a few years ago, but now he does it on 1 bigha only.

The constant hassle of getting payment from the sugar mills for his harvest has made him disinclined to plant sugarcane, he says.

"I produce lentils, wheat and other vegetables on my farm now," he said. "We don't get much return from these crops, but at least we get cash unlike sugarcane which we always have to sell on credit."

He said that Rautahat district used to produce 300,000 tonnes of sugarcane annually, but output has now shrunk to 50,000 tonnes.

In Mahottari, according to the Sugarcane Producers Farmers Association, five years ago there were 13,000 farmers who cultivated su...