Amritsar (Punjab) : Farmer groups in Punjab have urged the state government to raise the sugarcane support price to ₹450 per quintal, saying that higher input costs have reduced their profits, reports The Tribune.
Like paddy and wheat, sugarcane prices are fixed each year by the Centre and state governments, and sugar mills are legally required to pay farmers the approved rates. For the current fiscal year, the Centre has set the fair and remunerative price (FRP) at ₹355 per quintal, while the Punjab government’s state advised price (SAP) stands at ₹401 per quintal for early varieties and ₹391 per quintal for late varieties. The state increased the SAP by ₹10 last November.
Farmers said the current rates are not enough to cover rising production costs, including fertilizer, labour, and fuel.
Sugarcane is now grown on around 1 lakh hectares in Punjab — a sharp drop from its peak of 1.73 lakh hectares in 1996–97. Farmer leaders said delayed payments, low returns, and high input costs have driven many growers away from the crop.
“If the government does not act soon, farmers may have no choice but to give up sugarcane cultivation,” warned Rajbir Singh, a local farmer.
Rattan Singh Randhawa, a leader from the Border Area Sangarsh Committee, said sugarcane prices must be made profitable and urged the government to revive defunct cooperative sugar mills in Tarn Taran.
Satnam Singh Ajnala of the Jamhoori Kisan Sabha added that profitable sugarcane farming could play a key role in crop diversification across the state.
Farmers have also demanded that sugar mills begin operations by October 15 every year, noting that delays until the end of November often hurt them financially. “Mills start too late, and payments are often delayed. This is unfair to farmers,” said Mandeep Singh, a cultivator from Ajnala.
Punjab currently has nine cooperative and six private sugar mills operating across the state.
