Farmers protest in Uttar Pradesh against fall in sugarcane prices - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Unhappy with the Central government's stipulated pricing of sugarcane, farmers of Faizabad district in Uttar Pradesh staged a protest on Tuesday. Sugarcane farmers of the region are caught in the crossfire between the Centre's Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) and the Uttar Pradesh government's State Advised Price (SAP) mechanism. Agitated farmers of UP state, which produces half of India 's sugarcane, demanded fair prices for sugarcane crop besides abolishment of Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) policy. "We demand that the Uttar Pradesh Government must provide good prices to sugarcane farmers, we also demand that the central government must abolish Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) policy...On the November 19 we will lay siege to the Parliament to press for our demands," said Munna Singh Chauhan, a leader of regional Rashtriya Lok Dal party. In Muzaffarnagar district, touted as the sugar bowl of the State, farmers chose a unique way to protest against government's stipulated pricing of sugarcane. Distressed and defiant farmers in district's Fugana village took out a "funeral procession" and burnt a pyre representing their crops. On October 23, the Uttar Pradesh government had announced increase of rupees 25 per quintal in the sugarcane State Advised Price (SAP) for the 2009-10 over last year, raising it to Rs. 165 while the farmers had demanded a price of rupees 280 per quintal of cane.