Yamunanagar: Saraswati Sugar Mills starts crushing operations

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Yamunanagar, November 8

The management of Saraswati Sugar Mills (SSM) has started crushing operation of the mill, today. The crushing operations started one week earlier than last year.

Growers seek fixing of rates

• Farmers, mainly small farmers, will be able to sow wheat crop in about 25,000 acres after harvesting sugarcane crop on their fields
• The farmers are unhappy with the government as it has not yet declared the rates of sugarcane this year
• Farmers demand fixing of sugarcane rate at least Rs 400 per quintal for this season

The decision of the SSM management has brought cheer on the faces of sugarcane growers as a number of them, mainly small farmers, will be able to sow the wheat crop in about 25,000 acres after harvesting sugarcane crop on their fields.

However, the farmers are unhappy with the state government as it has not yet declared the rates of the sugarcane this year.

SK Sachdeva, chief operating officer of the SSM, said the mill had crushed 162-lakh quintals of sugarcane last year, however, they had set a target of crushing 175-lakh quintals of sugarcane this year.

DP Singh, senior vice-president (cane) of the mill said 44 cane purchase centres had been set up to buy cane from the farmers.

He said 38 cane loaders had been provided at the cane purchase centres to meet the problem of labour.

According to information, in the past two seasons, the mill started on November 16 in 2021, and November 24 in 2020.

This year about 22,000 farmers of 672 villages have produced/prepared the sugarcane crop on 97,000 acres falling under the command area of the mill, covering the whole area of Yamunanagar district and parts of Ambala and Kurukshetra districts.

Zile Singh, a farmer of Khandwa village, said this year, the crushing operation of the mill started one week earlier than last year, as a result of which, the farmers will be able to vacate their cane fields early for the sowing of wheat.

As per available information, the farmers are expected to sow the wheat crop on about 25,000 acres after harvesting the sugarcane crop falling under the sugar mill area.

Farmer leader, Satpal Kaushik said the state government should immediately announce the rates of the sugarcane.

“This year the cost of production of sugarcane has increased to nearly Rs 15,000 per acre as compared to previous years. Therefore, the state government should fix the sugarcane rate at least Rs 400 per quintal for this sugarcane season,” said farmer leader Satpal Kaushik.