Sindh Chamber of Agriculture urges government to act against mills that slow down sugarcane procurement and demand better prices
HYDERABAD:
The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) has asked the provincial government to take action against sugar mills that have slowed down the procurement of sugarcane by slowing down sugar production. According to a press release issued in Hyderabad on Sunday, officials and members at an SCA meeting also asked to increase the purchase price of cane to Rs 600 per 40 kilograms.
The meeting, chaired by Dr Syed Nadeem Qamar, warned of a sharp reduction in wheat production in the upcoming season in Sindh, pointing out that last year a 32% drop was recorded because the province’s lands could not be cleared of cane crops, supposedly thanks to the mills. He believed that the only way to stimulate wheat cultivation is to offer a suitable price to farmers.
Qamar, brother of senior Pakistan People’s Party leader MNA Syed Navid Qamar, demanded a procurement price of Rs 5,000 for 40 kg of wheat, besides upgrading the government’s procurement target to 1.5 million tonnes. He pointed out that so far only around 25% of the cane grown has been harvested because the mills have unjustifiably delayed the purchasing process. “Thousands of tractor cars are stranded outside the sugar mills for three or four days, waiting to unload cane,” he lamented. According to him, such delays end up drying out the cane and reducing its sucrose content, which is why mills argue in favor of reducing the acquisition rate.
Farmers present at the meeting also regretted that water rotation is still being applied in the Sukkur dam canals, even though it was scheduled to end on January 21. They complained that the ongoing repair and rehabilitation work on the Nara and Rohri canals appeared poor.
Farmers also expressed serious concern over falling prices of tomato and onion, and requested the government to immediately allow export of both crops.
The meeting reiterated the demand to reduce multi-million dollar imports of edible oil by financially supporting local farmers to grow the crop locally. Attention was also drawn to the financial losses being suffered by date farmers in Khairpur district due to export constraints for the last four years.
The meeting was attended by Zahid Hussain Bhurgari, Nabi Bux Sathio, Advocate Faisal Qadir Memon, Advocate Taimur Behrani, Sirajuddin Aulia Rashdi and Mir Abdul Kareem Talpur among others.
