Sugarcane growers protest against low price

Claim they will face a loss of Rs10.8 billion this season

HYDERABAD: The Sindh government’s decision to fix the price of sugarcane at a lower level has sparked an angry response from the farmers who consider the rate far below than the one they expected.

Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB), a lobbying body, staged a protest and blocked the highway on Saturday. Its President Abdul Majeed Nizamani said they would stage sit-ins on the highways from December 9 as a sign of disapproval of the unfair policy. Nizamani asserted that reduction of the price from Rs182 per 40 kg, which he claimed the government had agreed to notify, to Rs155 would cause a net loss of Rs10.8 billion to the cane growers.

According to him, sugarcane is sown over around 650,000 hectares in Sindh, with production expected at 400 million maunds this season.

SAB Vice President Major (R) Umar Farooq Khan criticised the provincial government for its failure to regulate a price mechanism for major crops like cotton, rice, wheat, sugarcane and horticulture.

“Millers, exporters, traders and middlemen all are reaping benefits through market manipulation and exploitation of farmers.”

He added that the farmers were looking to take the issue to court after consultation as the government continued to come up with unfair policies.

Nationalist party Qaumi Awami Tehreek (QAT) has also threatened to lay a siege to the mills in Sindh. QAT President Ayaz Latif Palijo gave a deadline of four days to the Sindh government, asking it to increase the price to Rs182 per maund to avoid protests.

Furthermore, sugarcane growers have blamed the government for failing to push the mills to start the procurement process by mid-October as mentioned in the Sindh Sugar Factories Control Act.

Cane Commissioner Agha Zaheeruddin told The Express Tribune that his office had directed all the mills to start boilers and begin purchases from November 1. However, he admitted, the directives were not followed.

“We wanted to take action against the mills for the violation but could not do so as the Sindh High Court is hearing a case of Pasma [Pakistan Sugar Mills Association].”

He claimed that all the mills would start their boilers and begin purchases from November 8. The protest was not only limited to Hyderabad, but a similar sit-in was held in Sukkur as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th, 2014.

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