In the backdrop of almost 25 per cent reduction in sugarcane production in Uttar Pradesh this season, the process of cane area reservation is underway in the state and is likely to be completed by the middle of this month.
Under the UP Sugarcane (Regulation of Purchase and Supply) Act, 1953, the farmers have to statutorily supply their produce to a sugar factory assigned by a UP cane commissioner order, known as reservation order.
There are an estimated 4 million cane farmers in UP and the total requirement of all the operational sugar mills in the state is around 80 million tonnes.
As part of the process, cane commissioner H S Das is hearing the grievances of the cane growers before he passes the reservation order. The crushing is likely to take off from the first week of November after a delay of almost a month.
“The hearings for the Meerut, Saharanpur, Moradabad and Bareilly divisions have been concluded and other divisions are being taken up on a day-to-day basis,” a senior cane department official told Business Standard.
Interestingly, these hearings are being conducted in Lucknow this year, and not the divisional headquarters, in apprehension of tempers running high among the farmers over the delay in cane payment during the 2007-08 crushing season and litigations over the cane price.
A total of about Rs 182 crore in cane dues for 2007-08 are still pending with the state sugar mills, including the public sector units.
Meanwhile, the state government is yet to announce the State Advised Price (SAP) for 2008-09. Last year, UP had announced SAP of Rs 125 per quintal of sugarcane (common variety) on October 30, 2007.
UP announces SAP every year, to be paid by the sugar producers to cane farmers, while the Centre also fixes the Statutory Minimum Price (SMP) every year.
There are about 154 sugar mills in the state, of which 93, 28 and 33 operate in the private, cooperatives and sugar corporation sectors respectively. However, only about 132 are in a working condition and had participated in the 2007-08 crushing season.
In the 2007-08, the cane production in UP stood at over 160 million tonnes with an acreage of about 2.5 million hectares. This crushing season, the production has been pegged at around 120 million tonnes.
The sugar production also dropped this year at 7.3 million tonnes, compared with 8.5 million tonnes in 2007.
Following the delay over cane payment, the farmers are opting to plant food grains. Besides, the grain prices are more remunerative and growers want to rotate 2-3 crops every year to get faster returns.
