Farmers of Haryana remain agitated as the rates of sugarcane still remain undecided along with their demands to increase the price of sugarcane from Rs. 362 per quintal to Rs. 450 per quintal. Punjab Govt. recently increased the price of sugarcane in Punjab for the year of 2022-23 from Rs. 360 per quintal to Rs. 380 per quintal.
The demonstration at the Naraingarh Sugar Mill was held from 11 am to 2pm, if demands are not met by the Haryana Govt. the demonstrations will continue, according to the BKU. The Sugarcane crushing season has already begun on November 20th and Haryana Govt. is yet to fix the price of the yield for the coming season.
For the current season the SAPs of sugarcane in Haryana was at the highest with Rs. 362 per quintal, whereas Punjab was at Rs. 360 per quintal and UP at Rs. 325 per quintal. Last month Punjab and UP both increased their SAPs to Rs. 380 pq and Rs. 350 pq respectively for the coming season of 2022-23.
Ravi Chachra, a farmer from Ambala stated that the SAP of sugarcane in Haryana needs to be increased as rates of fertilizers have increased over a period of two years and 7% payment is deducted from the amount for miscellaneous expenses like transport of the cane from drop off centers to mills. From his village to Naraingarh, two sugar mills are present; around 150 farmers are associated with sugarcane farming in between his village and Naraingarh.
Hardeep Singh, one of the representatives of Ambala farmers shared that Haryana always had more SAP for sugarcane, hence, the demand of the farmers is only fair as the SAP has been increased in the other two states. He also raised his concerns on the late and uncertain payments of the SAP, which is another issue that farmers deal with.
Farmers who hand in the harvest by the end of December receive payments by March-April or get post-dated cheques of a year's duration. He also pointed out that most farmers are not aware of the rules relating to the payments, for instance, sugarcanes with 10% more sugar content is paid more than other harvests. Farmers who are not aware of this incur losses and the mills enjoy the benefit. Farmers around 30-40 kms radius are dependent on Naraingarh Sugar Mill, from the regions of Banaundi, Saha, Kersari and Ambala, said Hardeep Singh.
