Now Reading: Centre to set up panel within a week for cane farmer grievances
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Centre to set up panel within a week for cane farmer grievances
The Centre on Monday (12 October 2026) decided to set up a high-level joint committee within a week to address the grievances of sugarcane farmers from Maharashtra and Karnataka, after nearly three hours of talks between Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Food Minister Pralhad Joshi with farmer representatives in New Delhi.
Farmers have demanded a higher support price, citing rising production costs, and an increase in the minimum selling price (MSP) of sugar from Rs 31 per kg to Rs 50 per kg. The Centre has fixed the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) at Rs 365 per quintal for the 2026-27 season. Farmers in Karnataka began an agitation on 29 September and had threatened an indefinite highway blockade from 13 October if demands were not met.
The committee will include representatives of the Centre, Karnataka and Maharashtra governments, farmers' organisations, sugar mills, experts and scientists. It will examine technical aspects such as harvest timing, recovery parameters, and weighing accuracy, and submit recommendations within a stipulated timeframe.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Both The Economic Times and Business Standard carry the same official statement, producing uniform coverage of the Centre's decision to form a high-level joint committee. The Economic Times includes the farmer response: Karnataka Sugarcane Growers Association's Bhuvanesh Sidhapur called the committee a long-drawn approach and demanded an immediate increase in support price, and noted the MSP for sugar has been unchanged since February 2019. It also reports the farmers' threatened highway blockade from 13 October. Business Standard, using a syndicated feed, omits these critical farmer perspectives entirely. The balanced reading is that while the government's committee is a concrete step, the farmer reaction reported by The Economic Times shows the gap between official process and immediate demand for price relief, with the blockade deadline on 13 October now the next pressure point.
Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral
Sources (2): economictimes.indiatimes.com (neutral report), business-standard.com (neutral report)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Methodology and corrections.
