UP farmers protest against unchanged sugarcane prices

The farmers burnt sugarcane here on Saturday as they staged a protest against the state government for keeping the prices of unchanged for the third year in a row. The farmers said the government has further slashed the prices of sugarcane, whereas they have been demanding price to be hiked to Rs. 320-350 per tonne.

Trilochan, a farmer who is also the member of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), accused the government of being corrupt and not thinking in the interest of the farmers. 

"One player is given rupees 60 million for winning a gold medal, but it is unfortunate for farmers as not even six paisa is raised for their yearly crop. The government is corrupt and is not able to buy even a rice grain. It is a lawless state and the farmers are protesting in Uttar Pradesh by burning sugarcane," he said.

The farmers had staged protest on the same issue in December last year by blocking key routes, including the national highway and also brought several buses and a train to halt.