The food and agriculture minister, Mr. Sharad Pawar has said that the government has fixed the fair and remunerative prices for sugarcane. Addressing the 75th Annual general meeting of the Indian Sugar Mills Association on Tuesday, the Mr. Pawar said the government has fixed its price for 2009-10 at 129.84 rupees per quintal. He said it is more than 50% higher than the cost of production and transportation incurred, on an average, by the sugarcane farmers in India. Mr. Pawar said the other steps being taken include two short term loan schemes from Sugar Development Fund for the processing of sugar. <br/><br/>The minister said these short term loans have been decided to be given to all the sugar factories having a positive net-worth with the sole purpose of improving the productivity of sugarcane, recovery of sugar and production and availability of sugar in the domestic market. Mr. Pawar said the government has been considering the possibility of deregulating the sugar industry but the interests of all stakeholders will be taken into accoun