Mills closed: Sugarcane growers hit by buying drought

Delay in cane crushing season could affect wheat sowing, say farmers

FAISALABAD:

As sugar barons keep their mills shut to heap pressure on the government to allow them to export 1.5 million tons of sugar, the growers fear the move will adversely affect wheat sowing.

Sugar mills were supposed to start crushing from November 1, but the process was delayed on purpose until the end of the month. This has affected the sugarcane growers, who say they will be unable to timely prepare their fields for wheat planting. The delay will also have adverse implications for per acre yield of wheat.

Out of five sugar mills in Faisalabad, only one namely Husain Sugar Mills is running currently.



If the crushing season does not begin this week, the growers would have to bear huge losses. “This is because the crop has matured for the last one month, but they are finding no buyers,” said Arshad Mahmood, an expert and progressive farmer in central Punjab.

Also, the farmers are not happy with the support price of sugarcane fixed by the government. Mahmood said the price should be Rs200 per 40 kilogrammes.

Last year, the support price was Rs170 and was fixed at only Rs180 for the new crushing season.

He added the cost of production had gone almost 20% higher than last year. “Only the increase of Rs10 in the support price is not enough to meet the high cost of production. Prices of electricity, seeds, pesticides and fertilisers have increased manifold this year.”

To irrigate the crops, the farmers have to run tube wells that operate on electricity. This adds to the cost as power prices have increased approximately 30% compared to last year. To power tube wells with the help of a generator or other alternative sources like diesel is becoming more expensive.

Moreover, the millers have not paid farmers their dues for the last one year. “Landowners are not too much affected by unpaid bills from sugar factories as they have other sources of income, but small farmers do not have the same luxury,” said Amir Shafeeq, an agriculture expert.

“Mill owners are not bothered about farmer woes as they are well-connected and have access to the bigwigs. This is why they are creating hurdles in the way of increase in the support price,” he added.

He said the government had never taken action against the mill owners for violating grower rights. The present government has been too busy in political matters and pays little or no attention to the development of agriculture sector and the people associated with it.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 16^th, 2014.

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