Govt may hike sugarcane SMP

The Agriculture Ministry is learnt to have favoured a hike in the statutory minimum price (SMP) for sugarcane to Rs 107.76 a quintal for the 2009-10 season. The Ministry, however, has also proposed to raise the recovery rate linked to SMP by 0.25 per cent to 9.25 per cent. Recovery rate refers to the production of sugar from a certain quantity of sugarcane.