Chandigarh/New Delhi, September 22
Bringing national laurels to the state, Punjab’s five cooperative sugar mills have won national awards for financial management, cane development and technical efficiency at the National Cooperative Sugar Industry Conclave-2026 in New Delhi. Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian received the awards from Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari.During the conclave, under the Financial Management (Other Recovery Area) category, The Batala Cooperative Sugar Mills Ltd. secured second position. In the Best Cane Development (Other Recovery Area) category, both The Fazilka Cooperative Sugar Mills Ltd. and The Budhewal Cooperative Sugar Mills Ltd. both secured second position.
Similarly, The Nakodar Cooperative Sugar Mills Ltd. secured the second position, while The Bhogpur Cooperative Sugar Mills Ltd. bagged the third position in the Technical Efficiency (Other Recovery Area) category. Speaking on the occasion, Khudian said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, the state government is laying special emphasis on adopting modern techniques to increase sugarcane productivity, improve sugar recovery and reduce cost of cultivation. He said that winning national awards by five sugar mills of the state is a matter of great pride for Punjab.
Khudian stated that sugarcane growers in Punjab are being paid the highest price in the country at Rs. 416 per quintal, which includes a state government subsidy of Rs. 68.50 per quintal. He informed that according to a survey conducted by sugar mills, the area under sugarcane cultivation in Punjab during 2025–26 was 1,11,818 hectares, which has increased to 1,16,131 hectares in 2026–27. If weather conditions remain favourable, a yield of approximately 700 lakh quintals of sugarcane is expected from this area.He further mentioned that joint teams from Punjab Agriculture University PAU, sugarcane experts, the Agriculture Department, and sugar mills are periodically organizing farmer awareness camps. Through these, information is provided regarding wide-row planting methods, primary seed nursery planting, the use of improved and disease-free seeds, balanced fertilizer application, pest and disease management, and farm mechanization.
To encourage modern sugarcane cultivation and farm mechanization during 2026–27, a special incentive scheme has been implemented, under which financial assistance of Rs.3,200 per acre is being provided to farmers to set up one-hectare demonstration plots based on recommended sugarcane cultivation techniques in selected districts. This scheme covers the districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Rupnagar, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, Patiala, Fazilka, Faridkot, and Kapurthala.
Social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube are being utilized to provide farmers with timely field updates and the latest technical information regarding sugarcane. Technical information has already been imparted to approximately 15,000 farmers through 320 training camps conducted by PAU sugarcane experts, the Agriculture Department, and field staff of sugar mills. He added that to promote mechanization in sugarcane farming, the Punjab Government is providing equipment such as sugarcane harvesters, small tractors, sugarcane planters, and ratoon managers to cane growers at a 40% subsidy to mitigate the issue of labor shortages.
Secretary, Punjab Cooperation department Ajit Bala Joshi and Managing Director Sugarfed Dr. Senu Duggal were also present at the award ceremony for 2024-25 and 2025-26 held during the Conclave organised by the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Limited (NFCSF) at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi.