Lucknow: The Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh has taken a series of measures during the past four and a half years for the welfare and overall upliftment of the sugarcane farmers and the sugar industry.
As a part of efforts to benefit the cane growers in the state, the government is working on a war footing to expand the capacity of sugar mills. In this regard, the sugarcane department has begun the expansion of 13 sugar mills. Once completed, it is likely to benefit over 5 lakh sugarcane farmers in Uttar Pradesh. Along with this, the cane crushing capacity of the mills will also increase. The department has also constituted a committee for on-site monitoring of expansion of these sugar mills.
Aiming to benefit the sugarcane growers, as many as 120 sugar mills are set to be operated in the current crushing season. As a result of the sustained efforts of the state government in improving the conditions of the existing sugar industry, the area under sugarcane production in Uttar Pradesh has increased by about 27.75 lakh hectares.
The work of expanding the crushing operation of 13 sugar mills including Munderwa sugar mill has been initiated to increase the state’s overall sugarcane crushing capacity.
According to the Sugar Industry and Cane Development Department, an increase in the crushing capacity of the sugar mills will increase the income of the cane growers. In view of this, repair and reconstruction work has been started in the mills. According to experts, the mills are expected to be functional after October 25.
Benefit to over 5 L farmers
According to the Sugarcane Department,after expanding the capacity of 13 sugar mills, the cane crushing capacity is likely to rise by 1,67,500 quintals. This will directly benefit about 5,01,876 sugarcane farmers.
A committee has been constituted for on-site monitoring of the expansion of sugar mills. Due to the policies of the state government, the sugarcane production which used to be 66 tonnes per hectare in 2016-17 has now increased to 81.5 tonnes per hectare in 2021-22. Besides, for the first time in 50 years, record payment of Rs 1.44 lakh crore was made to the sugarcane farmers.
