By IANS,
Chandigarh: The Punjab government Thursday asked the central government to announce a package for sugarcane farmers in view of the dwindling area under sugarcane production in the country.
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal asked the central government to immediately announce incentives for farmers opting for sugarcane farming.
“The area under sugarcane farming is rapidly falling due to non-remunerative prices of sugarcane over the years. There is an urgent need to lure back farmers in sugarcane cultivation to sustain the prices of sugar at reasonable level,” Badal said.
He pointed out that against the average requirement of 2.50 lakh acres under sugarcane cultivation, this year sugarcane was sown on only 60,000 acres, with a shortfall of 1.9 lakh acres in Punjab alone.
He said that sugarcane production this year was 145 lakh tonnes against the average requirement of 230 lakh tonnes.