The central government increased the FRP of sugarcane but the farmers of UP were not happy with it.
The Central Government announced an increase of Rs 5 in the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) price of sugarcane. Now sugarcane FRP has been reduced to Rs 290 but sugarcane farmers of Uttar Pradesh are not getting any benefit from it. The farmers of western UP, which are called sugar bowls in UP, are not happy with this decision of the government. In fact, even before the announcement of Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Government of India, the state supported price of sugarcane i.e. SAP is Rs 325 a quintal in Uttar Pradesh. There is no enthusiasm among sugarcane farmers of Baghpat and Muzaffarnagar about this announcement of the Government of India.
Sanjeev Kumar, a big sugarcane farmer of Tikona village of Baghpat, produces 10 to 12 lakh rupees of sugarcane every year in 100 bighas, but even after this his financial condition is bad. Due to the increased prices of electricity, diesel and fertilizers, a recruitment of 10 to 12 thousand rupees is being made on one bigha of sugarcane crop. On top of that, since November last year, the sugar mill is not paying their dues of five lakh rupees. Sugarcane farmer Sanjeev says, ‘We are not benefiting from increasing the FRP of the Government of India. The FRP of the central government has now become Rs 290, but more than this, the UP government gets Rs 325. When the state government increases this rate, then we will get the benefit. Sanjeev said that our prices have not increased for three years while diesel wages have all become expensive.
In the UP government, three years ago, the support price of sugarcane was increased by Rs 10, but after that the Sugarcane Price Advisory Committee had also suggested to increase the price by Rs 400 per quintal in UP, but at present it is in cold storage, while in the meantime diesel and Electricity prices have doubled. It is worth noting that due to being an election year, Punjab first increased the price of sugarcane to Rs 350. While in UP it is only Rs 325. Politics is also happening regarding the price of sugarcane. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi has also targeted the UP government by tweeting. However, experts believe that keeping in mind the next year’s assembly elections, the price of sugarcane in UP may increase this year.
