Resentment grows among cane growers in Uttarakhand

Resentment among sugarcane growers in Uttarakhand is on the rise following a long delay in the start of the crushing season as well as the state advised price (SAP).

Protests are rising in certain pockets of Haridwar district and other areas where farmers have asked the government to declare the SAP immediately in order to start the crushing season. The big worry for the farmers is any big delay in the crushing season can jeopardize the wheat sowing in their fields where the cane crop is ready since the last month.

Barring one or two sugar mills in the private sector, most of the mills have yet to start the crushing.

“Any big delay can certainly hamper our efforts to increase the production of wheat crop in the coming season,” said Madan Lal, director, state agriculture department. However, he said the crushing season should have begun in the first week of November itself.

While Uttar Pradesh had already announced the SAP at Rs205-210 for sugarcane, Uttarakhand has not taken any decision yet.

When contacted, top officials told Business Standard that the decision regarding SAP would be taken shortly and the crushing season would start in the first week of December. “The files related to the SAP are lying in the office of the Chief Minister,” they said.

Traditionally, Uttarakhand waits for Uttar Pradesh’s announcement on the SAP in order to give better prices to its own farmers. Last year also, the SAP in the state was Rs192-197 which was much higher than that of the neigbouring state at Rs165.

The government is expecting an increase of 17,000 hectares of sugarcane acreage for the 2010-2011 period which is 18 per cent compared to the previous year, largely owing to steep hike in sugarcane prices last season.

The sugarcane department said the total sugarcane acreage in the state in 2009-2010 was 0.93 lakh hectares which is now expected to reach 1.10 lakh hectares in 2010-11.

The cash crop is being cultivated in four districts of the hill state – Udhamsingh Nagar, Nainital, Haridwar and Dehra Dun which are having 14 sugarcane cooperative societies. A total of 1.81 lakh farmers are members of these societies.