PESHAWAR: The sugarcane growers have threatened to stop cultivating the crop from next year if the government fails to accept their demands pertaining to increase in its price and provision of irrigation water to their agricultural fields in different areas of Peshawar.

The farmers were addressing a meeting, held in Babozai area on Charsadda Road here on Sunday with Rashid Mehmood Khan in the chair. Haji Abdul Majeed Khan, Haji Mohammad Alam Khan, Humayun Khan, Ihsanullah Khan, Khwaja Mohammad Khan, Umair Khan, Haji Sardar Alam Khan and Nasir Khan addressed the meeting.

The speakers expressed concern over what they called the apathy of the government to fix rate of sugarcane on their demand. They said that they could no longer continue the cultivation of the crop in the prevailing situation because none of the officials concerned was ready to listen to their problems.

Demand increase in price of the crop and provision of irrigation water for their fields

“We will start protest demonstrations also for acceptance of demands very shortly,” the farmers threatened. They said that they were at the disposal of mill owners as the price of sugarcane was also fixed against their will.

The production of sugarcane, they said, could be increased but it was decreased by about 35 per cent in Peshawar during the past two years. The cultivation would further fall if government did not pay attention to the problems of growers, they added.

The speakers said that only five union councils of Daudzai area on Charsadda Road, comprising 66 villages, had 50,000 acres cultivable land but the entire area lacked irrigation water and was likely to be turned into desert. Blaming the successive governments for ignoring the farmers, they said that the ultimate sufferers were the poor growers.

“Some three years ago, the price of 40-kilogram sugarcane was fixed at Rs350 but owing to influence of the mill owners the price was decreased to Rs170 despite hike in the prices of essential items,” Rashid Mehmood told Dawn by telephone. He said that the price of sugarcane should be also increased with the passing of time. He added that the 35 per cent decrease in the cultivation of sugarcane was not a minor thing for the growers and millers as well.

Mr Mehmood said that the sugarcane committee was supposed to fix the rate of the crop but there was no proper representation of farmers in it. “We have a representative in the committee but he is ill and unable to attend its meetings. It is duty of the can commissioner to accommodate another farmer in the body so that he can raise voice for the rights of growers,” he said.

He said that majority of the decisions were taken in the favour of mill owners because farmers had no effective forum. Construction of roads from farms to market was a longstanding demand of the growers but the successive governments never paid attention to the issue.

Mr Mehmood said that 35 per cent sugarcane growers had started setting up fruit orchards and growing apricots and plum or various kinds of vegetables on their lands. He said that mill owners were exploiting the farmers by using delaying tactics in payment of their dues. That’s why they had to sell sugarcane to owners of the local weighbridges at low price but on cash payment. He said that the people running the weighbridges were also working for the mill owners to exploit the farmers by purchasing sugarcane from them at a low price.

The growers, Mr Mehmood said, had held several meetings with food minister, agriculture minister, can commissioner and owners of the sugar mills but none of them paid heed to their problems. He said that shortage of irrigation water was also an alarming issue for the growers.

“We suggest that the water of different rivers should be divided equally among the surrounding areas so that all the growers could get equal share in water and increase the production of crops and vegetables,” the farmer said.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2014