Uttaranchal announces sugarcane support price

The Uttaranchal government has raised by Rs 3 per quintal the support price of sugarcane, increasing the minimum support price of early sugarcane to Rs 120 per quintal, bringing it at par with that of Uttar Pradesh.

Farmers have been selling their crop to the sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh. This has raised concern among sugar mills in Uttaranchal, which had begun their crushing season from November this year.

For normal sugarcane, the government has set the minimum support price at Rs 115, which is again Rs 3 more than the previous year's.

The new price would benefit nearly 125,000 farmers in the state, officials said. Moreover, sugar mills, which were facing inadequate supply of sugarcane, will also be benefited.

"We will be reviewing the situation shortly. If the trend is satisfied then there will be no need to increase the support price further," an official from the Sugarcane Directorate said.