India, Oct. 15 -- Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday appealed to sugarcane protesters to adopt a conciliatory approach and allow sugar mills to begin crushing operations early, citing lower cane production, financial pressures on mills and the need to maximise the crushing season.

The agitation intensified along the Maharashtra-Karnataka border, where sugarcane cultivators blocked the Mumbai-Bengaluru highway to demand remunerative prices.

Fadnavis said the state government had asked sugar mills to begin crushing operations from October 15, while mills in neighbouring Karnataka had started on October 1. A delay could prompt Karnataka mills to procure sugarcane from Maharashtra, reducing the operating period for mills in the s...