This study, conducted in six districts of Uttar Pradesh, identified the problems faced by sugarcane farmers due to the non-payment of sugarcane prices by sugar mills and the scarcity of agricultural labour. The study is based on the data collected through a primary survey of 40 selected small-scale jaggery manufacturing respondents involved in sugarcane cultivation, jaggery production and marketing during 2017–18 and 2018–19. The study has revealed that through value addition, processing and entrepreneurship development, the implementation of the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY), Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has provided rural workers additional employment opportunities and checked the migration of agricultural labour from villages to metro cities and nearby industrial townships. Labour wages have increased significantly over the past five years from Rs. 120 per day to Rs. 250 per day, and the average labour wages for sugarcane cultivation, jaggery processing and other agriculturalrelated works have doubled, adding to the average cost of sugarcane cultivation and adversely affecting the net profit of sugarcane farmers. The study indicates that government schemes have increased skill and entrepreneurship development, which have provided additional employment opportunities for the rural masses and checked the migration towards cities or industrial townships.
