The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has taken a new decision for Sugarcane farmers and Sugar Mills.
According to the sources, on Wednesday, Centre has decided to increase the price that sugar mills pay to farmers by Rs. 10 per quintal. Formerly, it was Rs. 275 and now it will be Rs. 285 for the year 2020-2021 marketing year (October-September). This decision of increasing Fair and Remunerative price (FRP) was taken in the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On the proposal of Food Minister, this decision is taken. According to the sources, CCEA called meeting on the proposal of food minister to increase FRP by Rs. 10.
Also the Commission of Agricultural Cost and Prices (CACP), a constitutional system that decides the price of farm production recommended this.
The FRP is determined under the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1996. It is uniformly applicable all over the country and is the minimum price that sugar mills have to pay to sugarcane farmers.
According to Agriculture expert Sudhir Panwar, this Rs. 10 hike is “insufficient and much below the expectations of farmers and government’s promise of doubling famers’ income.”
Majorly sugarcane is produced in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana states. They fix their own price, known as State Advisory Prices (SAPs) that is usually higher than Centre’s FRP.
The government estimates the country’s total sugar production to be 28-29 million tonnes in the current year that is ending next month, compared to 2018-2019 it was 33.1 million tonnes due to sharp fall in acreage in Karnataka and Maharashtra.
