UP farmers reiterate demand for Rs 350/quintal for sugarcane

Mills willing to pay Rs 220/quintal, which is the fair and remunerative price (FRP) fixed by Centre

Uttar Pradesh farmers on Tuesday reiterated demand for hiking state sugarcane price by 25 per cent to Rs 350 a quintal for the coming crushing season.

The farmers raised the demand at the cane price fixation committee meeting chaired by state Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan here. They want cane price revision due to higher farm input costs and steep fuel prices.

The representatives of private sugar mills, however, said their cost of sugar production had also increased. The mills are willing to pay upfront at the rate of Rs 220 a quintal, which is the fair and remunerative price (FRP) for cane fixed by the Centre. Any payment to farmers beyond that price would depend upon market sugar prices, the millers said.

Last week, a similar meeting was held at the level of state Cane Commissioner S C Sharma, where the farmers had raised the demand for Rs 350 a quintal. Now, the high-level committee headed by the chief secretary would make recommendations about cane price to the state cabinet, which would finally take a decision on the matter. There are over four million cane farmers in the state and the sugar economy is pegged at over Rs 30,000 crore yearly.

The private sugar mills have been stepping pressure on the state government against raising the sugarcane prices in the state. The pressure worked last year, when the state government had retained the previous year's (2012-13) state advised price (SAP) of cane at Rs 280 a quintal while giving further incentives to them to the tune of Rs 20 a quintal.  This made the effective SAP in the state at Rs 260 a quintal.