Bijnor farmer wins U.P. sugarcane competition

Woman from Lakhimpur Kheri stands second in the annual contst

With a sugarcane yield of 2,635 quintal per hectare, a farmer from Bijnor district in western Uttar Pradesh has won the State cane competition this year, officials said on Tuesday.

Subhash Chandra, a farmer from Barkaatpur in Bijnor, received the prize money of ₹15,000 for his yield in the early plant category.

Each year, farmers compete to showcase who gets a better yield per hectare.

The results show that the second and third place went to farmers from Lakhimpur Kheri, which is also known as the sugar bowl.

Sanjay Bhoosreddy, Commissioner, cane and sugar department, said they received 125 applicants for the competition from across U.P. in four categories — ratoon, early plant, general plant and drip irrigation.

Healthy competitive spirit

The “main objective of organising the competition is to increase the per hectare yield in the sugar mill areas by inculcating healthy competitive spirit among the farmers,” he said.

Rajendri Devi, a woman farmer from Lakhimpur Kheri, stood second with a yield of 2,423 quintal and Ashok Kumar of the same district won the third prize (2,368 quintal per hectare), said officials. The second and third prize winners received ₹10,500 and ₹7,500 respectively.

The State had nominated officers for crop cutting of the fields which were used for the competition.

In the ratoon, general plant and drip irrigation categories, only consolation prizes were handed out to the farmers from Lakhimpur Kheri, Meerut, Gonda, Bijnor and Shamli as the department received less than the minimum number of required participants and unsatisfactory yield of competitors.