Form of words:
New Delhi: Ahead of the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and several other states, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved raising the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) on sugarcane to Rs 290 per quintal, an increase of Rs 5 over the previous year. . .
According to the government, this decision will benefit 5 crore sugarcane farmers and their dependents as well as five lakh workers employed in sugar mills and allied activities.
The ruling BJP is hopeful that the move will allay resentment among sugarcane farmers, especially in western Uttar Pradesh.
There are several BJP leaders as well as leaders of the RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS). had pointed That there is resentment among farmers in Uttar Pradesh over the issue of stagnant sugarcane prices and delay in payment, which may have an impact on the elections.
Union minister Sanjeev Balyan, who is a Jat leader from Muzaffarnagar in western UP, had earlier raised the issue of sugarcane prices and urged the Yogi Adityanath government to resolve the issue.
Every year before the start of the sugarcane crushing season from October, the central government announces the FRP, which is the minimum price that sugar mills have to pay to cane growers.
Several state governments, including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, are also announcing their own sugarcane rates, known as state advisory prices or SAPs, which are given to farmers in the state over and above the FRP.
For example, in UP for the 2021-22 marketing year (October-September), the central government’s FRP was Rs 285 per quintal, while the state SAP for the common variety was Rs 315 per quintal. As a result, a farmer was getting around Rs 600 per quintal for sugarcane produce from sugar mills.
With the current upgradation in sugarcane FRP from Rs 5 to Rs 290 per quintal and state SAP for the marketing year 2021-22, farmers in UP will receive Rs 605/quintal from mills for their sugarcane production.
The increase in the FRP of sugarcane by the central government is bound to benefit sugarcane farmers across the country, especially in the major producing states of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
However, in most of the states with the upcoming elections, there is a large presence of sugarcane cultivation in their area, with many farmers cultivating this long duration crop. These include Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat and Uttarakhand, which figure in the list of top ten sugarcane growing states.
Read also: Taliban takeover shakes Indian dry fruit market, prices jump ahead of festive season
Sugarcane in UP
Sugarcane is a major source of income for farmers in Uttar Pradesh and the issue of delayed payments and stable state prices had generated much anger among farmers, many of whom were also opposing the three agriculture laws passed by the Modi government.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait, who became the face of farmers’ protest in UP, met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in November last year. called for SAP will be increased from Rs 325 to Rs 400.
However, in February, the government decide To stick to the old rates, BJP leaders are hoping that the hike in FRP will quell the anger of some.
A senior BJP leader said, “Tikait had cleverly linked the demand for sugarcane price and farmers’ problems with the government’s three agricultural laws.” “He managed to garner support from the farming community, especially in Jat-dominated western Uttar Pradesh. With the increase in FRP this issue will surely get suppressed.
However, some people in the BJP still feel that the Yogi government of Uttar Pradesh should also increase the SAP.
“Elections are near and the opposition is trying to resolve the issue. Farmers’ protest is still on, many sugarcane farmers have also aligned with it, which may have an impact on our performance in western UP,” said a second BJP leader. The increase in FRP is welcome but the state will also have to do something now that Punjab has already approved it for its farmers.
The opposition has tried to take advantage of this issue.
Attacking the BJP government, senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday took to Twitter to point out that her party government in Punjab has increased sugarcane prices, but the Yogi government has not.
He tweeted, ‘The Congress government of Punjab listened to the farmers and reduced the price of sugarcane to Rs 360 per quintal. “The UP BJP government, which came with a promise of Rs 400 per quintal for sugarcane, has not raised a single paisa on sugarcane price for 3 years and has threatened farmers for raising their voices.
Punjab’s Labs Solutions in New Delhi as Dimitri Rs.360/-
Rs.400/quintal of gluten
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) August 25, 2021
Accepting the demands being raised by the farmers in Punjab, Chief Minister Amariner on Tuesday approved the SAP of Rs 360 per quintal from Rs 310 per quintal.
Sugarcane FRP
The FRP has been decided after recommendations from various stakeholders, but mainly from the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), a statutory body that advises the government on pricing policy such as MSP for major agricultural products.
According to a government statement on Wednesday, the production cost of sugarcane for the 2021-22 season is Rs 155 per quintal. Therefore, an FRP of Rs 290 per quintal will provide farmers with more than 50 per cent return on production cost.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal also said that the increase in FRP will not increase the price of sugar.
(Edited by Arun Prashant)
Read also: Why can’t you shed tears over onion prices this year?
subscribe our channel youtube And Wire
Why is the news media in crisis and how can you fix it?
India needs free, unbiased, non-hyphenated and questionable journalism even more as it is facing many crises.
But the news media itself is in trouble. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism are shrinking, yielding to raw prime-time spectacle.
ThePrint has the best young journalists, columnists and editors to work for it. Smart and thinking people like you will have to pay the price for maintaining this quality of journalism. Whether you live in India or abroad, you can Here.