Paddy trouble: ‘Give subsidy or we will go to court’

Sindh Abadgar Board wants government to give at least Rs3,000 per acre.

SUKKUR: Paddy growers in the northern region of Sindh have threatened to ask for court intervention if the federal government denies granting them subsidy like it did for their counterparts in Punjab by the end of this month.

The growers have cited hardships faced after their yield fetched them a lower price.

It is reported that in Kashmore-Kandhkot district, paddy was sown over 165,600 acres, while in Jacobabad, Shikarpur and Larkana, it was sown over 87,400, 80,500 and 207,000 acres, respectively.

It is mentioned that the price of aromatic rice ranges between Rs1,050-1,200 per 40 kilogrammes (kg). The price of non-aromatic rice, which is also called Irri-6, ranges between Rs750-800 per 40 kg.



Sindh Abadgar Board Kashmore chapter General Secretary GM Khoso said the subsidy of Rs5,000 per acre for Punjab growers was given due to the low price fetched by paddy. He said the situation in Sindh was similar and growers in the entire rice belt were being exploited by millers and traders.

He said a subsidy of at least Rs3,000 per acre should be offered. Last year, the growers’ yield fetched a price of Rs2,400 per 40kg, which has gone alarmingly low, Khoso added.

Terming agriculture as one of the most neglected sectors, he demanded the government to subsidise fertiliser, seed and electricity as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 5^th,  2014.

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