Sugarcane farmers in Punjab on Tuesday withdrew their protest in response to Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s announcement of a ₹35 per quintal hike in the State Agreed Price (SAP) for the cane crushing season 2021-22, taking the SAP to ₹360 per quintal.
Poor finances
The matter was resolved during a meeting of farmers’ union leaders with the Chief Minister here this afternoon, during which Capt. Amarinder, while agreeing to the SAP hike, said the State’s fiscal situation had prevented an adequate increase in the SAP for the past three to four years.
The farmers’ union leaders had earlier pointed out that Punjab had failed to hike sugarcane SAP in proportion to Haryana’s over the same period, causing fiscal losses to them.
The Chief Minister said the farmers were not to be blamed for the problem, which had been caused by Punjab’s poor finances. While he was always with the farmers and wanted to do his best for their welfare, the State’s fiscal crisis had prevented him for increasing the SAP earlier, he said, adding that balancing the needs of the farmers with those of the cooperative and private sugar mill owners was tough, given the prevailing fiscal situation.
The farmers’ union leaders, representing the Sanjha Kisan Morcha that has been spearheading the sugarcane farmers’ agitation for the past several days, thanked the Chief Minister for addressing their problem and announcing the hike.
