The Government says farmers will get financial assistance in case of their crop getting damaged due to cold wave or frost and raised the sugarcane price that mills pay to growers to Rs 170 per quintal—a decision aimed at improving the lot of farmers.

An official release in New Delhi said the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the fair and remunerative price of sugarcane payable by sugar mills farmers for 2012-13 to be fixed at Rs 170 per quintal. The minimum price to be paid by mills to cane farmers for 2011-12 marketing year ending September stands at Rs 145 per quintal.

In another major decision, the Cabinet also decided that farmers can get financial relief in case of crop damage due to cold wave or frost under the State Disaster Response Fund and National Disaster Response Fund.

In order to discourage imports of refined palm oil and to protect domestic edible oil processors, the CCEA decided to defreeze the tariff value on imported RBD palmolein from $484 per tonne and align it with the current global prices.