Chandigarh: The leader of the Opposition in the Punjab assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, is calling on the state’s Aam Aadmi Party government to immediately set a price of 450 rupees for every 100 kilograms of sugarcane for the upcoming season. He said the revision is necessary to reflect the rising cost of cultivation and to protect the livelihood of thousands of sugarcane farmers across Punjab, reports Hindustan Times.
Bajwa said that the sharp increase in labour wages, pesticides, herbicides, and other input costs has made sugarcane farming increasingly expensive, leaving growers unable to recover even basic production expenses. He said farmers have been working tirelessly but are struggling to make ends meet, adding that it is the government’s responsibility to ensure a fair and remunerative price. He demanded that the SAP be fixed at ₹450 per quintal without further delay.
The Congress leader reminded that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had, in November 2024, taken credit for announcing the country’s highest SAP of ₹401 per quintal. However, he noted that Haryana has since raised its SAP to ₹415 per quintal for the 2025–26 season, overtaking Punjab. Bajwa questioned why Punjab was falling behind while neighbouring states were taking steps to support their farmers.
He also raised concerns over widespread crop damage caused by floods in nine districts and said that paddy yields in other parts of the state had dropped significantly due to dwarf and false smut diseases. With paddy and other crops affected, he said, farmers are now depending heavily on the sugarcane harvest.
Bajwa stressed that announcing a remunerative SAP would not only help cane growers but also boost Punjab’s rural economy. He urged the Mann government to back its words with action and announce ₹450 per quintal immediately, saying that nothing less would be acceptable to the state’s farmers.
