The centre on Wednesday hiked the minimum price that mills have to pay to sugarcane growers by Rs 5 per quintal to Rs 290 a quintal for 2021-22 marketing year, but ruled out any immediate increase in the selling price of sugar. The decision will benefit around 5 crore sugarcane farmers - the sugarcane growing states of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab are going to see elections soon. But farmers in western Uttar Pradesh are unimpressed. The UP government already has a higher SAP or State Advised Price for sugarcane in place but even that has not been changed for 3 years now. Farmers say they want more.
