Updating techniques: Premier Sugar Mills introduces interest-free loans

Farmers will be able to purchase modern machinery, fertilisers for sugarcane crop.

MARDAN: To boost the yield of the sugarcane crop, Premier Sugar Mills in Mardan has introduced a scheme in which farmers will be given interest-free loans to purchase agricultural machinery, pesticides and fertilisers. This announcement has come a month before the sowing season this year.

The scheme was announced by COO Nasrat Ali Khan, GM Shahid Farooqi, Administrator Major (retd) Shaukat Ali Khan and other officials in a news conference held at Mardan Press Club on Friday.

“The land of Mardan is fertile enough and fit for the growth of the sugarcane crop,” said Nasrat. “However, the average production of the crop is lower here [Mardan] and in surrounding districts because farmers use conventional ways of cultivation.”

The average sugarcane production in Mardan, said Nasrat, is 300 to 400 maund per acre but the land is capable of producing as high as 1,200 to 1,400 maund  per acre if modern agricultural methods are adopted. “The best months to sow sugarcane are September and February but farmers are not preparing for it.”



The proper use of pesticides, fertilisers, machinery and modern agronomic practices can increase production of the crop in the region, he added. It is about time farmers leave obsolete tools and methods of farming and adapt to new and advanced ones, said Nasrat. “The selection of right seeds can also have a significant impact on the growth.”

Farooqi said an increase in production of the crop will bring prosperity to the farmers who will in turn provide sugarcane to the mills.

He said information points for interest-free loans have initially been opened in Mardan, Takht Bhai, Katlang and Swabi. These points can guide farmers about the procedure to get the loan.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2015.