Farmers in Uttar Pradesh are fighting it out to get better prices for their sugarcane crop. But over three lakh of their brethren in Gujarat are happy as they get much more than the price determined by the Centre under the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) ordinance issued by the UPA government last month.

Sugarcane prices paid to farmers last season by different mills in Gujarat was an between Rs 1,800 to Rs 2,200 per tonne, and it did not include harvesting and transportation costs. Compared to this, the price offered to farmers under FRP ordinance was merely Rs 1,300 per tonne, including the cost of harvesting the crop and transporting it to the mill.

Little wonder that the Gujarat State Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories (GSCSF) rejected the ordinance at the first instance.

In a communication to the Centre, GSCSF said: “We don’t agree with FRP because it is too less and we are already paying our farmers an average of Rs 1,800 to Rs 2,200 per tonnes.”

The reason for high rate being paid to sugarcane growers here is that all the 17 sugar factories in Gujarat fall under the cooperative sector and the profit earned by the factories are distributed among the farmers (all are members of the factories) after deducting expenditure. But this is not the case in UP and other states where most of the sugar mills are in private hands.

The payment to sugarcane growers here is done in three installments, ensuring timely payment. A sum of Rs 1,000 is paid within 21 days of arrival of the sugarcane at the mill and another 30 per cent of the tentative total bill is paid at the end of crushing season. The remaining amount is paid before Diwali — in September every year.

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