Delay in SAP fixation angers sugarcane farmers in Y’nagar

Shiv Kumar Sharma
Tribune News Service
Yamunanagar, December 23

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Sugar mills of the state have already procured sugarcane worth around Rs 400 crore, but the Haryana Government is yet to fix the state advisory price (SAP) of sugarcane for the ongoing cane crushing season.

This has led to resentment among the farmers who are awaiting the payment of their produce, which is delayed due to inaction on part of government functionaries.

According to information, all 14 sugar mills of the state, including private and cooperatives mills, have already procured about 125 lakh quintals of sugarcane from the farmers to whom nothing has been paid as yet out of the total value of about Rs 400-crore based on previous years’ SAP.

Almost all sugar mills of the state started their crushing operation about a month ago, but the authorities of the mills are waiting for the fixation of SAP to start the cane price payments to farmers.

The SAP was Rs 330 per quintal, Rs 325 and Rs 320 for early, medium and late varieties of sugarcane, respectively, in Haryana in previous crushing season.

According to information, Saraswati Sugar Mills, (SSM), Yamunanagar commenced its crushing operation on November 20, 2018.

It has so far procured about 30 lakh quintals of sugarcane from farmers and as per SAP of the last year, it owes about Rs 100 crore to farmers till date.

DP Singh, senior vice president (cane), Saraswati Sugar Mills, Yamunanagar, said the cane crushing payment to the farmers during the current crushing season could not be started as the state government had so far not fixed the cane prices for the season 2018-19.

He said the meeting of the Haryana Sugarcane Control Board had been convened on December 27 to finalise the cane price and its modalities to make payment to the farmers.

“We shall start making cane price payment to the farmers as soon as cane price and its sharing between sugar mill and the government shall be decided,’’ said DP Singh.

Congress leader and sugarcane producer, Satpal Kaushik, warned the state government that if it didn’t fix sugar prices within a week and mills didn’t start making sugarcane payment to farmers, the Congress, along with farmers, would start an agitation against the state government.

• Almost all sugar mills of the state started their crushing operation about a month ago, but the authorities of the mills are waiting for the fixation of SAP to start the cane price payments to farmers.
• The SAP was Rs 330 per quintal, Rs 325 and Rs 320 for early, medium and late varieties of sugarcane, respectively, in Haryana in previous crushing season.