Raising the rate of sugar cane to Rs182 per 40 kgs will allow small farmers to prepare their land for the rabbi crop
BADIN: Sugarcane growers in Badin have stopped cutting their crop and some growers have also stopped supplying sugar cane to sugar mills in their districts because of the failure of the government to raise its price to Rs182 per 40 kilogrammes. Smaller growers of the area are selling their produce to the big growers at rates ranging between Rs150-152 per 40 kilogrammes instead of the rate of Rs182 per 40 kilogrammes, which has been fixed by the government. The small growers are selling their crop at such low rates to big landlords because sugar mills are not buying the small quantity of sugar cane that they are able to supply to them. On top of all this, small sugar cane growers are under enormous pressure to pay for fertilisers and seeds on short-term credit.
A local farmer I know has brought his two acres of his land under sugar cane cultivation and was worried that if his land was not cleared of the standing cane crop, he would not be able to develop his field for another rabbi crop this season. Some growers have taken land on lease and while their crop is still standing in the fields, they cannot cut it and sell it due to the low rate they are being offered. On top of this, their lease tenures are going to expire within days, and if they do not vacate the land, landowners will charge them an extra amount. This has forced the growers to sell their sugar cane crops to neighbouring landlords at low rates.
The big growers have, meanwhile, set up procurement points to purchase the produce standing in the fields of small landowners in the district. On the other hand, according to a report, cane cultivation has reduced in comparison with previous years, as sugar cane was cultivated approximately in 80,000 acres of land last year in the district and this year, the area under sugar cane cultivation is only 50,000 acres. I request the Sindh government to raise the rate of sugar cane from Rs152 to Rs182 per 40 kilogrammes, and adhere to the standards set by the federal government. This will allow small farmers to prepare their land for the rabbi crop and also save those growers whose tenure of lease is going to expire soon. They will be saved from paying additional charges.
Shahid Ahmed Qureshi
Published in The Express Tribune, February 9th, 2015.
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