SUGAR is not only bad for health but its production also consumes a huge quantity of water (up to 4,000 liters of water are required to produce one kilogram of sugar), while water is getting scarcer every year.

Sugar exports are subsidised by the government, as is the fertiliser required for it. As a result, sugar millowners further enrich themselves and are able to buy expensive properties abroad (as some of our politicians have done).

The government should immediately stop aiding those involved in sugar production. Instead, it should help farmers to produce those items that we import at a cost of billions of rupees, like lentils (daal) and palm oil. Import substitution is badly needed for the economy to recover.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2017