Sindh cotton growers: Middlemen buying at below support price

SAB called for payment of Rs100,000 redress to breeders of big livestock animals and Rs10,000 for small cattle

HYDERABAD: Sindh Abadgar Board, a lobby representing agricultural growers, has demanded compensation for growers who have sustained up to 75 per cent loss of crops in floods. They have also called for payment of Rs100,000 redress to breeders of big livestock animals and Rs10,000 for small cattle. A meeting of members of SAB, chaired by president Abdul Majeed Nizamani, also complained of discrimination in buying price of cotton in Sindh and Punjab. “A grower in Punjab is paid Rs3,300 per 40 kilogram of cotton but in Sindh the rate starts from Rs800 in the most affected areas and Rs2,300 in other parts,” said the statement issued after the meeting. The growers demanded Rs3,600 rate for cotton and Rs250 per 40 kg of cane crop. The meeting also rubbished claims of wastage of 31 million acre feet (MAF) water downstream Kotri barrage made by Indus River System Authority (Irsa). It demanded the release of more water for Kharif (summer) sowing in compensation for a reduction in Sindh’s share for Rabi (winter) sowing.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2011.