To safeguard the interests of cane growers in the State, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday approved the hike of Rs 15 per quintal in the State Agreed Price (SAP) of all sugarcane varieties for the crushing season, 2021-22.
With this decision, sugarcane’s SAP has gone up from Rs 310 to Rs 325 for early variety, Rs 300 to Rs 315 for mid variety, and Rs 295 to Rs 310 per quintal for late maturing variety.
Pertinently, for the ensuing crushing year 2021-22, approximately area of 1.10 lakh hectares is under the sugarcane crop across the State out of which about 660 lakh quintals of sugarcane would be crushed by the sugar mills.
With the increase of sugarcane rate, Punjab’s farmers would get a benefit of about Rs 230 crore more from the previous year. Besides, on the demand of the Punjab cane growers, the rate of sugarcane variety Co-0238 would also be purchased at the rate of Rs 325 per quintal.
The Chief Minister, chairing a meeting of Sugarcane Control Board through video conferencing, also constituted a Cane Development Group headed by the Cooperation Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa besides other members including Rana Sugars CMD Rana Gurjit Singh, Punjab State Farmers’ Commission chairman Ajay Vir Jakhar, Cane Commissioner Gurvinder Singh and Director PAU Sugar Research Centre, Kapurthala Dr Gulzar Singh.
The group has been mandated to find ways and means to enhance the production of sugarcane and promotion of advanced cultivation technologies so as to ensure remarkable improvement in sugar recovery.