PUNE: Uttar Pradesh sugarcane farmers earned an additional Rs 5,568 crore in 2016-17 thanks to rapid adoption of a new sugarcane variety, which increased the average yield by 8.7% to 723.76 quintal per hectare. "With rise in per hectare productivity, not only sugarcane crushing had increased by 1825 lakh quintal relative to last year but also income of sugarcane farmers of the state has increased by Rs 5568.32 crore," said Vipin Kumar Dwivedi, cane commissioner, Uttar Pradesh.