Pakistan: Farmers bodies demand Rs700 sugarcane support price
Pakistan’s farmer organisations have demanded a sugarcane support price of Rs 700 per maund and sugar mill crushing operations to begin by November 1. They warned of nationwide protests over delays, citing a 21% increase in cultivation and urging transparent weighing and timely payments.
MULTAN – Representatives of various farmers’ bodies, including Pakistan Kissan Ittehad and Kissan Bachao Tehreek, on Sunday demanded the government to fix the sugarcane support price at Rs700 per maund and ensure sugar mills commence crushing operations by November 1. According to a spokesperson, Pakistan Kissan Ittehad Central President Khalid Mahmood Khokhar, Kissan Bachao Tehreek leader Chaudhry Naseer Ahmad, and All Pakistan Kissan Foundation Chairman Syed Mahmood-ul-Haq Bukhari warned of a nationwide protest movement if mills delayed operations.
Khalid Mahmood Khokhar stated that sugarcane cultivation had registered a 21 percent increase this season, promising up to 30 percent higher sugar yield. He urged the government to protect growers from arbitrary weight deductions and financial exploitation by mill owners, emphasizing that rising input costs were causing severe losses to tenant farmers.
Chaudhry Naseer Ahmad noted that delays in starting the crushing season were compounding hardship for farmers with standing crops, adding that mills in Sindh had also missed their traditional mid-October start date. Syed Mahmood-ul-Haq Bukhari called for a transparent, farmer-friendly sugarcane policy ensuring accurate weighing and prompt payments, stressing that the record yield should benefit growers rather than turn into a financial burden.
To Read more about Sugar Industry continue reading Agriinsite.com
Source : The Nation
