Chandigarh, November 19
Hundreds of farmers in the state continue to face anxious moments as they are yet to be paid arrears amounting to Rs 30 crore by Sugarfed for procuring sugarcane last year. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has approved crushing by sugar mills from November 25.

Cane production this year is expected to be not more than 560 lakh quintals, much less than the required 896 lakh quintals for the mills to be able to run for up to six months (180 days). Sugarcane production in the state has declined during the past couple of years with farmers facing problems of timely payments.

The Price Control Board has yet to announce the official rate for sugarcane for this season. Sources say the new rates will be out within a couple of days and are expected to be higher than the last year’s price of Rs 230 per quintal for the early crop and Rs 220 per quintal for the normal crop. Punjab Cane Commissioner Dr Ranjit Singh said: "Sugarfed owes nearly Rs 93 crore to the farmers. At least two installments worth Rs 60 crore have been cleared. The remaining amount (Rs 30 crore) will be released within a couple of days”.

This year, sugarcane was grown over 84,000 hectares. Cane mills do not expect to get more than 425 lakh quintals this crushing season. There are16 sugar mills operational in the state, of which nine are in the coop and seven in the private sector. The crushing capacity of the coop sugar mills is 15,766 tonnes per day and the private mills 34,000 tonnes.