A sweet deal may be on its way for sugarcane farmers

The government is reviewing a law to modernize and simplify outdated regulations

- Vijay C Roy & Dhirendra Kumar

For India's sugarcane farmers, this could well be the sweetest news in six decades.

The government is reviewing a law to modernize and simplify outdated regulations governing the world's second-largest sugar producer, and if the Centre goes ahead with plans to revise the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966, income of sugarcane farmers could rise.

The 1966 order was framed when sugar was the only major output from cane, but does not take into account the fact that the industry has since diversified. Today, sugar mills also produce ethanol, electricity, molasses, bagasse, and bio-CNG, two government officials said on the condition of anonymity.

Yet, the existing rules continue to link the fair and remunerative price (FRP)-the minimum price that sugar mills in India need to pay sugarcane farmersfor cane only to sugar prices, leaving little scope for farmers to benefit from additional revenue streams.