Surgarcane farmers call off morcha to Goa Assembly after meeting Manohar Parrikar

The sugarcane farmers in Goa have decided to give up their plan for a march to the Legislative Assembly on 24 July while claiming that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has assured to hike the support price of the crop. [caption id=“attachment_69316” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representative image. Reuters[/caption] The farmers, under the banner of Akhil Gomantak Us Utpadak Sanghatna (AGUUS), had earlier planned a protest march to the Legislative Assembly during its ongoing monsoon session over their demand for an increase in support price of sugarcane crop in the state. State Agriculture Minister Vijai Sardesai told PTI that the farmers decided to cancel their protest after they met the chief minister on Thursday. “We have decided to withdraw our proposed march as the chief minister has assured us to increase the support price of sugarcane by Rs 500 per tonne from retrospective effect covering the crop cultivated last year,” AGUUS president, Rajendra Desai claims. He said their demand was to increase the support price from Rs 2,500 per ton to Rs 3,600 per ton. Desai said as of now they are happy with the hike after which they are expecting to get a support price of Rs 3,000 per ton. In its budget tabled in the House in March this year, the Parrikar-led government had announced various schemes to provide financial assistance for sugarcane cultivation in the state.