The tiny rise in the price of sugarcane for the entire year's harvest, according to Jagmohan Singh, general secretary of BKU-Ekta (Dakaunda), mocks farmers across the country.
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| Punjab Agriculture Department |
Farmers and agricultural activists have criticised the Central government's recent rise of Rs 10 per quintal — from Rs 305 to Rs 315 — in the fair remunerative price (FRP) of sugarcane and have urged for a more equitable pricing mechanism.
They claim that the mismatch between the FRP and the SAP system has resulted in considerable losses for Punjab farmers, since mills frequently postpone payments based on SAP pricing. Farmers want the SAP and FRP to be set at the same price.
The SAP in Punjab is Rs 380 per quintal. The governments of Similalary, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh all have their own SAP that is more advanced than FRP. Farmers are being harassed as a result of this discrepancy.
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The tiny rise in the price of sugarcane for the entire year's harvest, according to Jagmohan Singh, general secretary of BKU-Ekta (Dakaunda), mocks farmers across the country. He stressed that sugarcane is a year-round crop with multiple hurdles to its value, which directly impacts farmers' livelihoods and economic well-being.
To ameliorate the situation and guarantee equitable pay for farmers, Jagmohan urged for the Swaminathan Commission's suggestion to set the price of sugarcane at Rs 460 per quintal to be implemented. He proposed that the Central Government assume responsibility for sugarcane payment rather than depending on mills, who frequently fail to pay farmers on time.
"Also, the Centre should establish its own research centres to provide farmers with the best inputs and seeds at a fair price," he said. "In Punjab, sugarcane farmers have to resort to protests every year in order to receive their dues from mills and the government." He underlined that the Central Government taking on payment responsibilities would relieve sugarcane growers of their burden.
Kirpal Singh Musapur, a progressive sugarcane planter and adviser member of the Punjab Agriculture University's Kisan Committee in Ludhiana, underlined the financial difficulties encountered by farmers due to the disparity between the state-mandated SAP of Rs 380 per quintal and the FRP. This difference of Rs 65 per quintal is borne by the state government, but owing to a shortage of money, farmers sometimes do not get the entire SAP amount on time, and remaining dues might take many years to be paid.
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Satnam Singh Sahni, general secretary of BKU Doaba, a body that advocates for cane producers in the state, voiced worry over the burden put on state governments as a result of the Central government's reduced FRP. Sahni emphasised the need of deciding SAP and FRP at the same time. Sugarcane, he says, is the only crop that can reduce the area under water-intensive paddy farming, and farmers want to cultivate it. According to Manjit Singh Rai, president of BKU Doaba, the area of sugarcane cultivation has stayed below one lakh hectares for numerous years owing to payment concerns, whereas paddy cultivation has increased to 31 lakh hectares in the state.
In Punjab, the cane crop covers 87,000 to 97,000 hectares of land each year, accounting for slightly more than 2% of the state's total agricultural area, with productivity remaining between 835 and 843 quintals per hectare.
According to a Punjab Agriculture Department specialist, cane producers will never receive a fair price unless the Centre takes cane payment into its own hands, as it does wheat and paddy. They would always be reliant on the sugar mills for payments, which would never be made on schedule.
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