Belagavi, Nov. 19 -- Sugarcane farmers based along the Karnataka-Maharashtra border are increasingly directing their harvest to mills across state lines, drawn by higher procurement prices and long standing grievances with local factories.

Official records from the Karnataka State Sugar Research Centre in Belagavi indicate that more than 25,000 farmers from the Kittur Karnataka region each year to mills in Kolhapur district in Maharashtra already, with mills in Hemaras, Harali, Hamidwadi. Shahu, Datt, Gurudatt and Panchaganga crushing a collective harvest of over 100,000 tonnes annually.

Amid protests by farmers in Belagavi and Bagalkot over a demand for a hike in the MSP of sugarcane, the state government recently announced a revised r...