The Punjab government on Friday announced ₹391 per quintal as the state agreed price (SAP) of sugarcane, which is the highest in the country, for the 2023-24 cane-crushing season.
This is despite the fact that Punjab has the lowest sugar recovery in India at 9.7%.
Also read: Punjab governor Purohit gives assent to one of 5 pending bills
The announcement came days after chief minister Bhagwant Mann assured farmers of “good news”. “With an increase of ₹11, the new rate will be ₹391 per quintal, which is the highest in the country,” Mann said in a post on social media platform X.
Earlier, farmers held protests demanding an increase in sugarcane price from ₹380 to ₹450 a quintal.
Though sugar-millers had insisted that the SAP should not be increased and Punjab Agricultural University had suggested ₹388/quintal as the SAP, the chief minister increased it to ₹391. Last year, Punjab was paying ₹380 a quintal for sugarcane.
Neighbouring Haryana had last month announced a hike of ₹14 in the sugarcane price to ₹386 a quintal.
{{/usCountry}}Neighbouring Haryana had last month announced a hike of ₹14 in the sugarcane price to ₹386 a quintal.
{{/usCountry}}“ ₹11 is considered auspicious so it’s the government’s gift to farmers,” Mann said. He had recently met and assured farmers and promised them maximum sugarcane price in the country.
Private mills cite Maharashtra model
As private sugar mill owners were opposed to a price hike and farmers were demanding ₹400/quintal as SAP, the government decided to adopt a middle path approach.
Last year, when SAP was increased by ₹50, the state government agreed to pay the enhanced SAP. As a result, the mills were paying ₹330 a quintal to the farmers, while the state government paid the balance ₹50 a quintal to farmers.
70% of the cane in Punjab is crushed by private sugar mills.
A private miller, requesting anonymity, said that the increase in the SAP has hit their economics. The government must link the SAP with the sugar content, he said. Maharashtra has sugar content of almost 12% in the cane crop. For the 2023-24 sugar season, ₹315 per quintal has been linked to a basic recovery rate of 10.25% subject to a premium of ₹3.07 per quintal for each 0.1% increase of recovery over and above 10.25% and reduction in fair and remunerative price (FRP) at the same rate for each 0.1% decrease in the recovery rate till 9.5%. This model should be implemented in Punjab, too, said a private miller, saying that it will lead to better sugar recovery as Punjab farmers are progressive and can adopt techniques for higher sugar recovery.
Farm unions reject ‘insufficient’ hike
However, farmer unions in Punjab have rejected the ₹391 a quintal as SAP. Farmers’ organisation BKU (Doaba) president Manjit Singh Rai said that price hike is insufficient. “The CM has failed to fulfil his promise. We have convened a meeting and will restart our protest against the government,” he said.
Last Friday, farmers had held a demonstration on the national highway in Jalandhar but decided to end their stir after Mann’s assurance. Protesters under the banner of Samyukt Kisan Morcha had blocked the Jalandhar-Phagwara section of the Jalandhar-Delhi national highway near Dhanowali village. The strike ended on the fourth day after a meeting between farmer leaders and the chief minister.