Mounting cane dues add fodder to ongoing farmers' protest in western UP

It's a catch-22 for the Adityanath govt as no hike in sugarcane SAP for three straight years can worsen an already volatile situation, while an increase would have pushed cane dues up further

Mounting sugarcane dues payable to several thousands of farmers in western Uttar Pradesh have provided another reason for them to lend support to the ongoing protests against the three farm acts in the region.

While cane dues and the farm acts are unrelated, the spike in the former and the near status quo in the state-ordained price of sugarcane over the past three years have combined to fuel farmers' ire against both, the Narendra Modi-led Central government and the Yogi Adityanath regime in Uttar Pradesh.

In UP, sugarcane and the economics surrounding it have a direct bearing on about 100