The Uttar Pradesh (UP) government, in anticipation of upcoming national elections, has increased the state advised price (SAP) for all sugarcane varieties by Rs 20 per quintal for the 2023-24 season, setting it at around Rs 370 for early-sown varieties. UP is a major sugarcane-producing state with a significant number of private sugar mills, directly impacting around 4.5 million farmers—a crucial electorate in the state's political landscape.
Several states, including UP, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab, and Karnataka, set their own sugarcane purchase prices based on input costs or SAP. In contrast, other states follow the fair and remunerative price established by the central government on the advice of the Commission for Agriculture Cost and Prices (CACP).
The BJP government in UP had previously raised the SAP by Rs 25 per quintal in 2021, strategically timed ahead of the state polls for the 2021-22 sugar season. Uttar Pradesh primarily cultivates three sugarcane varieties, with the early variety constituting over 95% of the production, followed by 2.7% of the ordinary variety and a mere 0.3% of the rejected variety.
In the preceding 2022-23 season, the state maintained SAP at Rs 350 per quintal for early-sown sugarcane, Rs 340 per quintal for general varieties, and Rs 335 per quintal for rejected varieties. This adjustment in SAP is a crucial economic and political decision, given the significant role sugarcane plays in the livelihoods of millions of farmers in the region.
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