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UP: Centre’s Rs 5 hike in sugarcane prices ahead of polls a ‘cruel joke’, say farmers

Sugarcane farmers have not had their dues cleared since 2020

Representative image | Reuters Representative image | Reuters

Sugarcane prices, after remaining static for three years, have finally seen a revision to Rs 290 per quintal for the 2021-22 season by the central government.

This is much less than the Rs 400 per quintal that the Uttar Pradesh government had promised the farmers in the state. Yet the BJP, which faces a state election in 2022, hopes that this will bring to it votes of the sugarcane farmers, especially in western Uttar Pradesh where people have been upset over unchanged sugarcane prices over the last three years, and are also at the forefront of the protest of the farm laws.

UP is the country’s largest sugarcane producing state. It has about 22.77 lakh hectares of land under sugarcane production with 135.64 million tonnes of production as per Government of India statistics. In districts such as Muzaffarnagar, almost 40 per cent of the farming population is engaged in sugarcane production. This happens because there is a state advisory price (SAP) in place for sugarcane which assures the farmer of a minimum price for its produce. In UP, the last increase in the SAP (by Rs 10) was done in 2018 after the current BJP government came into power. At Rs 315 per quintal for the common variety of sugarcane, this price is already above the price announced by the central government.

Sugarcane is mostly grown for selling to mills because of the Minimum Support Price. This has led to an ever-growing increase in the production of sugarcane in the area--leading to the related challenge of procurement by sugar mills which have a limited capacity to purchase and process sugarcane.

In UP, sugarcane farmers have not had their dues cleared since 2020. In 2020 the outstanding dues to sugarcane farmers in the state stood at Rs 2,960 crores.

Meenakshi Chaudhary, an office bearer of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in Muzaffarnagar, said, “This Rs 5 increase is like a lollipop when previous dues have not been cleared. The government had repeatedly said that it cannot compel sugar mill owners to pay their dues as it would break their backs. Why is it that the burden should be borne by the farmer? And how can the farmer be stopped from cultivating sugarcane when there is huge market for it?”

Chaudhary also pointed out that the Rs 5 increase was mere tokenism when previous governments had increased almost five times that amount.

The increase said Chaudhary would only serve to further anger the farmer who is already protesting against the farm laws.

Ashok Kumar Singh, president of the Uttar Pradesh unit of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), said, “The increase in price is purely an election ploy and an attempt to fool the farmer. The farmers are unlikely to be swayed as they know this is a government of falsehoods. From the PM of the country, to the CM of the state- all of them are lying to buy votes. But if anything, this will further anger farmers”.

Sugarcane dues are meant to be cleared by October in a given year. However, a delay in clearing of dues and the static sugarcane prices have meant that farmers are compelled to take loans.

Increased production costs, especially of human labour have meant diminished returns for farmers. And even these diminished returns are not being paid.

A study published in the International Journal of current Microbiology Applied Sciences in December 2019, on the cost and return analysis of sugarcane in Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh, concludes the difference between input cost and the net return is negligible.  “…the cost of cultivation of sugarcane…amounted as 87491.30 Rs/ha. Major share of cost of cultivation gone to human labour cost being 40.20 per cent. The net return against the cost of cultivation observed (to be) Rs 136941.07”.

Ashu Chaudhary, a farmers activist said that the rise seemed like a ‘cruel joke’. “Look at Punjab. The price hike (State Assured Price) announced is Rs 35. What does Rs 5 amount to? If the government thought it would appease the farmers protesting the farm laws and get their votes, it has actually ensured that the farmers are even angrier now. The price of urea has increased, the measure in a sack has decreased, what is there to celebrate about? This government is playing games with the farmers”.

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