Fight for rights: Cotton farmers protest exploitation by mills

Growers say they are being forced to sell cotton at Rs2,200 per maund.

HYDERABAD: Sindh Chamber of Agriculture representatives demanded of the provincial government to notify and regulate the procurement rate of Rs3,200 per maund (around 38 kilogramme) of cotton in order to end exploitation of the cotton farmers on Sunday.

They complained that the cotton mills were exploiting the growers due to Eid holidays and monsoon rains.

The chamber’s president, Dr Nadeem Qamar, chaired the meeting from Hyderabad while the farmers’ representatives from across the province joined through video conferencing from the Karachi, Sanghar, Ghotki and Sukkur districts.

According to Qamar, the growers reluctantly accepted the rate of Rs3,200 per maund against their demand for a higher price. However, the government has not still issued any notification of the fixed rate, he said.

The Sindh government has a projected production of 4.2 million bales of cotton.

The farmers from different parts of the province complained that they are being forced to sell cotton at Rs2,200 to Rs2,300 per maund.

Other agricultural problems

Sharing their problems, the agriculturists from Jacobabad complained that their district lacks a proper drainage network to drain out the agricultural and rain water waste.

They feared a massive loss of ripe crops in the event of a torrential downpour. The meeting also expressed deep concern over the unrestrained sale of low-quality pesticides in Sanghar, which is the largest cotton producing district in the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4^th,2014.