SUGAR BOWL RATTLED BY STRING OF PROBLEMS
STRAY CATTLE, DIESEL PRICES AND FARM PROTEST AFFECT FARMING COMMUNITY OF WESTERN UTTAR PRADESH
Emergence of Naresh and Rakesh Tikait may have brought Western Uttar Pradesh to the centre of farmers’ protest at Delhi borders, but the farming community of the region known as the ‘sugar bowl of India’ have a long list of other and even bigger problems — stagnant sugar cane price, ever-rising diesel rates and the menace of stray animals, to name a few.
At the same time, everchanging caste and societal equations are making the landscape much more difficult to predict in this politically important region, which many political pundits believe would play a key role in the assembly elections next year and in the Lok Sabha polls of 2024.
Raj Kumar, a Rawa Rajput from Satheri village in Muzaffarnagar district, says sugar cane prices have not been raised for the past several seasons, whereas companies have reduced the size of urea and DAP (Diammonium phosphate, a popular phosphatic fertiliser) bags, making the manure costlier and the agriculture “unsustainable”.
“In this region, our elders earlier used to say, Uttam kheti, beech vyapaar, neech naukri (Agriculture is best to earn a livelihood, followed by business and then doing a job), but the sequence has turned upside down now,” he said.
Muzaffarnagar, a western Uttar Pradesh district, is not very far from Delhi, which has seen its three border points turn into tent cities as farmers protesting against the three new central agricultural laws, which open up the sector for private players, have been camping there for over 100 days now.
Local issues
Asked about the contentious farm laws, Kumar said he doesn’t know much about them but he has been supporting the protesting farmers as agriculture has become “unsustainable”.
Echoing similar sentiments, Roshan Lal, a Saini by caste and a small-scale farmer, said more than the three farm laws, it is the delay in sugar cane payment and rising diesel prices, along with the problem of stray cattle, that have made their lives miserable.
“More than farm laws, these local issues have broken our back,” Lal said, standing by Kumar. “All this has forced us to raise their voices for farmers’ issues,” he said.
Sohan, a Kashyap (Jhimir) by caste from Ganshampura village who owns less than one-acre land and uses his crop mostly in his jaggery workshop, said the jaggery price would also remain stagnant until and unless sugar cane prices are increased.
“Yahan to eenkh hi sab kuchh hai’ uska daam badhega, to gud ka daam bhi badhega, warna mazdoori bhi bachaani mushkil hai (Here sugar cane is everything. If its prices increase, the prices of jaggery will also go up. Otherwise, it would be difficult to pay even wages),” he said.
Sohan said he has heard about the farm laws but doesn’t know much about them. He also flagged the issue of stray cattle.
The sugar cane crop, the mainstay of the farmers in the region, is cultivated on more than 80 per cent of the arable land in the districts of western Uttar Pradesh.
As per the data provided by All India Sugar Traders Association, the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of Sugar cane was at Rs255 per quintal for 2017-18 season and increased to Rs285 per quintal in 2020-21 season.
Whereas the Uttar Pradesh government’s State Advisory Price (SAP) is fixed at Rs315 per quintal for the last four seasons from 2017-18.