LUCKNOW: As part of a major SOP extended to the cane farmers, especially of western UP, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday announced to increase the State Advisory Price (SAP) of sugarcane by Rs 25 per quintal, taking it to Rs 350 per quintal, in Uttar Pradesh.
The CM also announced to waive the interest on the outstanding electricity bills of the farmers.
Announcing the hike for the 2021-22 crushing season, the CM said, "as per the decision, the purchase price of early variety of sugarcane will be raised to Rs 350 per quintal from Rs 325 per quintal. The SAP for general variety Rs 340 per quintal from Rs 315 per quintal earlier".
The rejected variety of sugarcane, which was barely one per cent, the government has decided to buy it at the increased price of 335 per quintal from Rs 310 per quintal.
The move will additionally boost the income of 45.44 lakh sugarcane farmers in the state, added Yogi Adityanath.
The hike in sugarcane SAP will result in additional annual payment to farmers to the tune of Rs 4000 crore.
The announcement was made by the Chief Minister while addressing around 25,000 farmers of the state during Kisan Sammelan in Lucknow on Sunday.
Recalling the shutdown of sugar mills during the tenure of the SP-BSP governments, CM Yogi described the period from 2004 to 2014 as a "dark era" for the country and the state. He said that during that time anarchy and hooliganism prevailed and the farmers were forced to commit suicide while the poor were starving.
Launching a scathing attack at the previous governments, the CM Yogi said, "When we came into power, there was disappointment among the sugarcane farmers. They had come to terms with the closure of sugar mills. While 21 sugar mills were closed under the Bahujan Samajwadi Party government, 11 were closed during SP regime. Sugar mills were sold at throwaway prices. The sugar mills worth Rs 300 crores were sold for only Rs 25-30 crore."
Sugar mills that got shut during the previous governments were revived by our government and the state now ranks first in sugar production in the country. New sugar mills were started in Pipraich-Munderwa, the capacity of the closed Ramala Sugar Mill was increased and was made operational, said the CM.
CM Yogi said that the world was troubled during the Coronavirus pandemic. Industries stopped working in Brazil, which is the largest producer of sugar. More than half of the sugar mills in Maharashtra closed down, some in Karnataka. "But the sugarcane department of UP did the work of running all 119 sugar mills," the CM claimed.
Presenting the data in front of the farmers, CM Yogi said that his government worked with team spirit and the Cane department ensured a payment of Rs 1.44 lakh crore in four and a half years to the sugarcane farmers.
Referring to the BJP Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra of 2017 elections, the CM said that as soon as the government was formed, the promise of waiving off the crop loans of 86 lakh farmers.
"In the same month, we brought the policy of procurement to help farmers and buy the produce at the purchasing centers. We eliminated the middlemen and the benefit was made available directly to the farmers," said CM adding that in the last four and a half years, his government purchased record food grains from the farmers.