The Union Cabinet on 25th August (Wednesday) approved the highest ever fair & remunerative price (FRP) of Rs 290 per quintal for the sugarcane farmers for next marketing year, which is starting from October 2021.
Briefing the media after the Cabinet meeting, headed by PM Narendra Modi, Food & Consumer Affair Minister Piyush Goyal said that this decision will benefit 5 crore sugarcane farmers as well as 5 lakh workers employed in sugar mills across the country. The government had fixed the sugarcane FRP at Rs 285 per quintal for current 2020 to 2021 marketing year.
The Centre announces the FRP, minimum price that the mills have to pay to the cane growers every year before start of the sugarcane crushing season. In order to ensure the higher sugar recoveries are adequately rewarded & considering the varieties amongst the sugar mills, the FRP is linked to the basic recovery rate of sugar, with premium payable of farmers for higher recoveries of the sugar from sugarcane.
Goyal said ‘When the recovery increases beyond 10%, then on every point 1% rise additional of Rs 2.90 is paid per quintal. Even if a farmer has less than 9.5% recovery, their FRP will be Rs 275 per quintal.
In August 2020, the Centre had increased the FRP by Rs 10 bringing the amount of Rs 285 per quintal. In the 2019 to 2020, the government had fixed the sugarcane FRP at Rs 275 per quintal. Under the FRP system, the farmers are not required to wait till the end of the season or for any announcement of the profit by the sugar mills or the government.
According to the Ministry of consumer affairs, food & public distribution, the new system has also assures the margins, on an account of the profit & risk to the farmers, irrespective of the fact whether the sugar mills generate profit or not & is not dependent on the performance of any individual sugar mill.
