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₹20 hike in SAP for sugarcane negligible, measly: Jayant, Akhilesh
RLD and SP leaders criticize the Uttar Pradesh government for announcing a meager ₹20 per quintal increase in the sugarcane price, calling it negligible and disappointing. They argue that the hike does not account for rising costs and falls short compared to neighboring states. Both parties demand a minimum price of ₹450 per quintal.
Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav have termed the hike in sugarcane price as announced by the Uttar Pradesh government as negligible and measly.
“In a delayed move, the Uttar Pradesh government has declared a ₹20 per quintal increase in the State Advised Price (SAP) for sugarcane for 2023-24 season. However, farmers express skepticism as the hike seems negligible considering the rising costs of pesticides, fertilisers, agricultural machinery, and diesel,” Jayant said in a written statement here on Thursday.
RLD chief said farmers were demanding a minimum price of ₹450 per quintal for sugarcane but the government announcement of mere ₹20 hike had disappointed them especially when the SAP during the last seven years of the BJP rule in the state had been increased by only ₹55 per quintal.
“With the recent hike, the sugarcane price in Uttar Pradesh now stands at ₹360 per quintal, still lower than neighboring states like Haryana and Punjab, where prices are ₹386 and ₹392 per quintal, respectively. Haryana has already announced a rate of ₹400 for the next season (2024-25),” Jayant pointed out.
He further said that despite the BJP government’s claims of doubling farmers’ income, the reality seemed completely different, as the sugarcane prices neither ensured profitability for the farmers nor facilitated prompt payment for their produce.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav also attacked the state government over the ₹20 per quintal hike in State Advised Price (SAP) for sugarcane.
He said, “The government betrayed the farmers yet again”. He called the hike “measly” and demanded SAP for sugarcane as ₹450 per quintal.
He said that amid steep rise of farm production cost, the government increased the sugarcane after three years and that too by a measly ₹20 per quintal.
“This is not only injustice but also an insult to the farmers. The BJP is anti-farmer”, he said. The UP Cabinet has increased SAP by ₹20 per quintal for the sugarcane purchased by all sugar mills in the state (cooperative sector, corporation, and private sector) for the crushing season 2023–24.
