KHAIRPUR, Jan 3: After the failure of talks between the sugar mills managements and sugarcane growers over sugarcane price, the growers announced on Friday to stop sugarcane supply to the mills.

The growers, at their meeting in Jado Wahan, also announced to continue their protest movement till the mills’ managements agreed to pay the government-prescribed rate for sugarcane.

The dispute has arisen between the sugar mills’ managements and the growers of the district as the mills managements have refused to pay the government rate for sugarcane.

Khairpur District Nazim Nafeesa Shah held a meeting with the sugar mills’ managements and the growers at her office here on Thursday night.

The meeting continued till late night but ended without arriving at a conclusion.

At the meeting, the representatives of the managements of the sugar mills offered a rate of Rs36 per 40kg of sugarcane to the growers.

However, the growers insisted on receiving the government rate of Rs43 per 40kg, saying that they could not even cover the cultivation cost if they sold their crop at the rate, offered by the mills.

The growers held two separate meetings in Jado Wahan and Toori on Friday, in which they announced that they would not supply sugarcane to the mills till their managements agreed to pay the government price.

A farmer told this correspondent that he had stopped harvesting his sugarcane crop.

However, the district Nazim has called another meeting of the growers and the mills’ managements on Jan 5 to settle the issue.

MIRPURKHAS: Following the refusal by the sugar mills to pay the rate fixed by the government for sugarcane in Mirpurkhas district, the growers have announced to stop supplying sugarcane to the mills.