Uttar Pradesh farmers’ strike takes sugar prices up in Pune
Indian Express: The sugarcane farmers’ strike in Uttar Pradesh, which held up the first day of the winter session at Parliament on Thursday, has stalled supply of sugar to Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat, forcing these states to draw sugar from Maharashtra. This has seen a marginal increase in sugar price in Pune over the last few days.
“The sugar mills in UP have stopped work because of which states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat are drawing sugar from Maharashtra. This has put pressure on sugar prices,” said president of the Pune sugar traders association Vijay Gujarathi.
Pune consumes about 500 tonnes sugar everyday. On Thursday, the price of the sugar was Rs 34.50 per kg at wholesale; it has been over Rs 37 – Rs 40 per kg in retail for a month now.
In a year, the state requires 30 lakh tonnes of sugar but it produces around 60 lakh tonnes, said the managing director of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Sugar Cooperatives Federation. “The UP strike is not expected to last long as the farmers will be in a hurry to harvest their sugarcane to sow wheat. The sowing season is already delayed there. So this price rise could be temporary,” he said.
The sugarcane farmers had demanded Rs 225 per quintal above the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) fixed by the government.
According to Naiknaware, farmers are already getting this amount in Maharashtra. “They are getting the first advance of Rs 200 per quintal and including the transport costs borne by the cooperative, it works out to Rs 225 per quintal. But by the end of the season, they can expect the final price to touch Rs 250 per quintal,” Naiknaware said.
During the unseasonal rains last week, the sugar mills in the state had stopped production briefly. In Maharashtra, the state mills have already produced over five lakh tonnes of sugar.
Every year, Maharashtra consumes 50 per cent of its sugar production and the remaining part is sent to the Northeastern states and West Bengal while a part of it is sent to Gujarat, MP and Rajasthan.
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