Farmers to stage demo in Lucknow demanding SAP revision

Farmer organisations in Uttar Pradesh, agitating against low sugarcane price, today said it would stage a demonstration in the city to press the state government to revise state advisory price (SAP) of sugarcane.

"We will organise a massive agitation in Lucknow on December 15 and 16, demanding a SAP of at least Rs280 per quintal," Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan convenor VM Singh told PTI.

On the Centre's decision yesterday to bring forward a bill that will shift the burden of certain payments to farmers on sugarcane purchase from state governments to mills, Singh said the attention was unnecessarily being diverted towards the Union government by political parties as the fair and remunerative price (FRP) ordinance was not applicable to UP.

"The real issue is that of SAP. An attempt was being made to divert the attention from the state government, which had already issued the SAP after the ordnance, to the Centre for restoration of SAP," Singh alleged.

Meanwhile, Association of Cane Union also decided to stage a demonstration in the state capital on December 15.

"Our main demand is that the SAP should be fixed between Rs280 to Rs285 per quintal and the farmers will not settle for anything less than that," association chairman Awadhesh Mishra said.

The state government had earlier announced a SAP between Rs160 to Rs170 per quintal depending upon the quality of the sugarcane.

However, the farmer organisations demanded that the SAP should not be less than Rs280 per quintal keeping in mind the cost of production.

Later on the behest of the state government, the sugar mills announced to give an incentive of Rs15 per quintal above the SAP, but it failed to woo the farmers.

"The farmers will not supply cane to sugar mills unless the SAP is hiked," Mishra said.

Meanwhile, according to cane department officials none of the mill were crushing sugarcane as of now.

"Though all the sugar mills are in a ready state, but crushing is being delayed as farmers are not supplying sugarcane," they said.

Security has been beefed up at the mills apprehending attack by the agitating farmers, the officials said.