HYDERABAD: Representatives of Sindh-based growers and sugar mills failed to settle the dispute over the sugarcane price in a meeting held in Karachi on Jan 19.

Sindh Agriculture Minister Sohail Anwar Siyal was in the chair. The final round of talks will take place on Monday and the outcome will be submitted to the Sindh High Court (SHC).

The meeting was held under a directive of the SHC that it passed on Jan 16 after the mills and the growers stuck to their respective positions over the sugar cane rate for the current season.

Sindh is facing a crisis-like situation over the sugar cane rate this year. The provincial government belatedly notified the rate of Rs182 per 40 kilograms under Sugar Factories Control Act 1950 on Dec 5, 2017. The rate should have been notified by November as per the usual practice.

The mills started raising a hue and cry even before the season commenced, saying that they would not accept any rate above Rs102 per 40kg in view of their cost of production.

As many as 32 mills are operating this season compared to last year’s 35 mills, which crushed 22 million tonnes of sugar cane against nearly 18m in 2015-16.

Pakistan Sugar Mills Association Sindh Zone Chairman Asim Ghani said the mills have exported 500,000 tonnes of sugar for which a subsidy of Rs10.70 per kg was announced by the federal government. But they have yet to receive that subsidy, he added. He said the federal government did not permit exports even without a rebate before the start of crushing.

In addition to the subsidy announced by the federal government, the provincial government also approved a subsidy of Rs9.30 per kg for Sindh-based mills.

Mirpurkhas Sugar Mills and others took the issue of sugar cane rate to the SHC, challenging the Dec 5 notification for the 2017-18 season. The court ordered the mills on Dec 21 to pay Rs172 per 40kg to growers and deposit the differential (Rs10 per 40kg) with the court’s nazir.

Subsequently, the mills shut their operations instead of complying with the order. They argued that they could not pay more than Rs130 per 40kg. They said they would be committing contempt of court by keeping the mills operational.

The mills still insist that they would pay only Rs130 per 40kg. As a result, growers are receiving this rate at the most despite the notified price of Rs182. Several mills are not paying the growers, but procuring the crop as they await the final decision by the SHC.

Growers like Nabi Bux Sathio of the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) have ruled out the possibility of accepting any price less than Rs172 per 40kg.

Sindh Abadgar Board Vice President Mahmood Nawaz Shah said medium and small farmers end up being major losers in the row over the price.

“They are hard-pressed to sell their crops even at a lower (than notified) price. They have already lost the chance to sow the wheat crop. They want to safeguard their 18-month-old sugar cane crop for which they need extra irrigation water that is unlikely to come in view of the persisting shortage,” Mr Shah said.

SCA General Secretary Zahid Bhurgari said his organisation will not accept any rate other than Rs172 per 40kg.

The meeting indicated that the mills are in no mood to pay Rs172 per 40kg, he added.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2018