UP farmers demand hike in cane price by 25% to Rs 350/quintal

Demand was raised at the cane price fixation sub-committee headed by UP cane commissioner Subhash Chandra Sharma

Farmers in Uttar Pradesh have demanded an increase of 25 per cent in state sugarcane price for 2014-15 crushing season to Rs 350/quintal, owing to higher farm input cost.

The demand was raised at the cane price fixation sub-committee headed by Uttar Pradesh cane commissioner Subhash Chandra Sharma. The meeting was attended by representatives of farmers, cane societies, sugar mills, research institutes, etc. Now, the chief secretary-headed committee would discuss the issue on October 28.

Every year, Uttar Pradesh government fixes state advised price (SAP) for cane after consultations with stakeholders. SAP is the minimum amount payable by mills to farmers and is much higher than the Centre’s Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP).

During 2013-14, the state government had fixed Rs 280/quintal as price for common variety of cane, which accounts for almost 70 per cent of total cane production in the state. In fact, the state had not hiked SAP last year and had simply retained SAP of 2012-13, although the farmers had been demanding over Rs 300 for every quintal.

Last year, the private mills had claimed that their paying capacity was about Rs 240/quintal and any price above it would result in losses and subsequent arrears. The matter was resolved when the state announced sops to mills and promised to constitute a committee to evolve a permanent cane price formula.

This year also, the private mills had notified the government about suspension of crushing operations, since the committee had not submitted its report. They want the state to link cane price to retail sugar price. However, in a meeting on Monday evening between state sugar industry and cane development principal secretary Rahul Bhatnagar and private millers, the matter was resolved. The state has assured mills to look into their demands.

The mills have now decided to restart maintenance work in their units for subsequent crushing operations. There are 95 private mills in the state, of which almost 66 units had notified the government about suspension of crushing operations unless there was clarity on cane price.

The Uttar Pradesh state government has asked mills to start crushing operations by November 10 and November 15 in western and eastern Uttar Pradesh  regions, respectively.