RICE CROP: Growers get lower prices

HYDERABAD: The $2 billion worth of rice exports from Pakistan are likely to fall if paddy growers continue to receive low returns on their investment, the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) warned.

SCA President Dr Syed Nadeem Qamar pointed out at a meeting of the association that for the third consecutive year the rice farmers were getting low prices for their crop.

Millers were paying between Rs750 and Rs800 per maund (40kg) for Irri-6 rice against the support price of Rs900 set by the provincial government.

Representatives of the farmers accused the millers of exploiting them and hit out at the government for failing to enforce the official price. The share of Irri-6 rice variety in national exports stood at around $1.3 billion, the SCA said.

The SCA, furthermore, demanded that the government should increase the support price to Rs1,000 per maund so that the farmers could recover their losses and feel encouraged to cultivate Irri 6 in the next season.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 18^th, 2016.

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