HYDERABAD, July 22: The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture has demanded increase in support prices of crops in the wake of damages caused to crops by the recent rain.

It further demanded that growers should be exempted from paying taxes.

These demands were made at a meeting of the executive committee of the SCA here on Monday.

The meeting pointed out that the support price of cotton was last year fixed by the government at Rs880 per 40 kilograms but growers were denied even that price.

It observed that Mirpurkhas and Sanghar districts were famous for the chili crop but farmers could not dispose of a major portion of their crop.

It said the present market price of chilies was between Rs1,000 to Rs1,200 per 40kgs which was less than the cost of production.

The meeting further said growers had also suffered huge losses on account of damage to their fruits and other crops.

It appealed to the government to ensure payment of the fixed support price to growers and exempt them from payment of taxes.

SCA president Syed Qamaruzzaman Shah presided over the meeting.

CLARIFICATION: The manager, external relations, Sui Southern Gas Company, has clarified that the company is complying with the decision of the Supreme Court in respect of sacked employees and has recently absorbed 484 management trainees and trainee engineers.