Farmer’s organisation Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) on Monday demanded a steep hike of about 60 per cent in the price of sugarcane for the current season, which commenced last month, at Rs 400 per quintal.
In the last 2011-12 season (October-September), the Uttar Pradesh government had fixed a State Advisory Price (SAP) of Rs 240-250 per quintal for sugarcane.
The state government has so far not announced the SAP for the 2012-13 season. “Farmers will not accept cane price below Rs 400 a quintal,” BKU leader Naresh Tikait said at a farmers meet.
Another BKU leader Rakesh Tikait demanded that the Siwaya toll plaza in the city should be shifted outside the Meerut Municipal Corporation limits and the toll rates should be halved.