NEW DELHI: With the Centre on Thursday asking Uttar Pradesh to keep sugarcane out of the ambit of the Prime Minister crop insurance scheme, the state government is likely to make this scheme voluntary for the sugarcane farmers. "Though the scheme would be compulsory for other notified crops, the sugarcane farmers will have an option of not going for the crop insurance if they wish. It will be voluntary for them", said a source in the state government. The state may soon announce its decision. The move comes after the Centre urged the UP government to reconsider its decision to cover all crops under the scheme, arguing that the sugarcane is normally not a risky crop and even farmers raised objection for compulsory coverage of their crop in the scheme. Since the implementation of the scheme is state's responsibility, the Uttar Pradesh government had on June 10 notified and specified crops, including sugarcane, which need to be insured under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) in different districts. The sugarcane farmers of the western UP have, however, consistently been objecting to it. The farmers of mainly irrigated areas of the state have argued that since the sugarcane is not a risky commercial crops, the burden of insurance premium would only raise the cost and ultimately affect their returns. In the backdrop of the farmers' objection, the Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh on Thursday wrote to the UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and urged him to "reconsider" the issue in the interest of the sugarcane farmers. "Sugarcane is normally not a risky crop. Even farmers have strong objection to it (bringing sugarcane within the PMFBY). It does not appear to be appropriate to include sugarcane under the crop insurance scheme. The matter should be reconsidered in this context," Singh said in the letter. Singh in his letter to Yadav also referred to the official communication in this regard with the state government two days ago. Asked about the rationale behind the possibility of making the scheme voluntary for the sugarcane farmers, member of the UP planning commission, Sudhir Panwar, said, "Sugarcane is grown in diverse areas of the state. While eastern and Tarai region is generally ravaged by drought and flood, the western region is insulated from vagaries of weather due to assured irrigation and minimal flood risk.