With mill owners refusing to further hike the rates for sugarcane, farmers in western Uttar Pradesh today stuck to their stand of not supplying their produce to the factories.
A dialogue involving the district authorities, farmers and millers failed with the sugar factory owners saying that they were not ready to raise the rates, officials said. Work remained stalled in over two dozen sugar mills in the region for the fifth consecutive day.
After massive protests by the farmers' and opposition parties, the Centre had said it will amend a controversial sugar ordinance in which the State Advised Price (SAP) will be restored and the difference in payments to farmers over the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) will have to be paid by the sugarmills instead of the government.
The ordinance had put the burden on the difference in payment on the states which was objected to by the opposition.
The Uttar Pradesh government had earlier announced a SAP between Rs160 to 170 per quintal depending upon the quality of the sugarcane. The sugar mills announced that they will give an incentive of Rs15 per quintal above the SAP, but it failed to woo the farmers who are demanding Rs280 a quintal.
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