Lucknow, Jun 19 (IANS): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Friday that a record cane price payment of more than Rs 1 lakh crore has been paid between 2017-2020 to 47.20 lakh sugarcane farmers in the state.

"This cane price payment of more than Rs 1,00,000 crore paid to the cane farmers, is Rs 46,633 crore more than the combined cane price payment of Rs 53,367 crore of the previous 3 years of 2014-17," he said.

This cane price payment to sugarcane farmers during 2017-2020 is Rs 4,785 crore more than the cane price payment of Rs 95,215 crore paid during the 2012-2017 year.

He further stated that the state government is committed to protect the economic interests of cane farmers and added that even during coronavirus pandemic when all the industries were facing closure, the sugar mills of the state continued their crushing operations.

"It was the commitment of government for safeguarding the interest of farmers, that the supply of their sugarcane remains uninterrupted during lockdown period. Though the sugar sale remained negligible during lockdown but in spite of that, cane price payment of Rs 5,953 crore was made to farmers in this period," he pointed out.

In the current crushing season 2019-20, the sugar mills of the state crushed 1,116 lakh tonnes of sugarcane and produced 126.5 lakh tonnes of sugar. The crushing and sugar production recorded is the highest in the history of the state.