Food minister S S Barnala has urged the sugar industry in Uttar Pradesh to liquidate sugarcane price arrears at the earliest.
He has also asked the state government to take suitable measures to facilitate timely payment to the cane growers.
Making these observations during his visit to the National Institute of Sugarcane and Sugar Technology, Barnala said the delay in payments would adversely affect sugar production.
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He suggested that every factory should prepare a need-based and time-bound sugarcane development programme to improve the quality and productivity of sugarcane.
Barnala urged the cane research institute to develop sugarcane varieties with high sucrose content and resistant to pests and diseases.
The multiplication of the planting material of these varieties should be taken up by the sugar mills to ensure speedy replacement of the existing strains with the new ones.
He observed that the sugar production in 1997-98 season has touched 124 lakh tonnes.
Of this, about 39 lakh tonnes, or 31 per cent, was accounted for by Uttar Pradesh alone.