Sugarcane Farmers Received a FRP of 5,000 Crore This Season

This season, sugar mills in Maharashtra paid sugarcane farmers a total of Rs 5,065.45 crores Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP).

According to Sugar Commissioner office data, 175 sugar mills began crushing season this year on December 15, 2021 and crushed 232.98 lakh tonnes (lt) of sugarcane.

The total gross payable FRP is 7,588.44 crore, with a net FRP of 5,065.45 crores.

According to the data, 66 factories have paid 100% FRP and 109 factories have not paid any FRP this season. Eighteen factories have paid between 80 and 99 percent FRP. The FRP arrears include all previous seasons and a total of 610.53 crores.

FRP had become a source of contention before the crushing season began, with farmers' organizations demanding that mills not delay FRP payment. 

Meanwhile, uncertainty reigns over the continuation of the crushing season, as the number of Covid-19 cases in the state rises rapidly.

Thousands of sugarcane cutters travel from Marathwada to the sugar belt to harvest sugarcane.

Despite the fact that the number of Covid-19 cases in the state has tripled, sugarcane cutters continue to work in the region.

What is Fair and Remunerative Price?

The Fair and Remunerative Price, or FRP, is the price that sugar mills and factories must pay to sugarcane farmers. It was introduced in 2009 and took the place of the Statutory Minimum Price concept (SMP).

The price paid to farmers for sugarcane under the FRP system is unrelated to the profits generated by sugar mills. Instead, FRP is based on the rate of sugarcane recovery.