HYDERABAD, Oct 20: The Sindh Abadgar Board has said sugar mill owners are trying to blackmail growers and they are violating the Sugarcane Act and the prime minister’s directives to start the crushing season on time.

In a communication addressed to Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, with copies to the Sindh chief minister, federal ministers for finance and agriculture and other authorities concerned, SAB president Abdul Majeed Nizamani said the mill owners were trying to create a buyers’ market with a view to fleecing the growers.

He said sugarcane was cultivated on 500,000 acres, mostly in September and October, which had a maturity period of 12 months. However, he said from land preparation to harvesting and marketing, it took more than 18 months and sometimes two years like the previous year.

Mr Nizamani said the sugarcane production was reduced by 30 per cent in 1999 as the water situation deteriorated and big mills started purchasing sugarcane at higher rates to throw out smaller units and they even imported raw sugar while surplus sugar was available in the country. He said the big mills also introduced middleman to make bulk purchases of sugarcane which affected the sugarcane economy. He said it was most unfortunate that the ultimate sufferer was the farmer.

He said the mill owners had paid Rs40 per 40 kilograms of sugarcane to the growers last year against the government-fixed price of Rs43 per 40 kgs. He said the growers were also not paid the quality premium for the year.

He said the growers had suffered huge losses due to the late starting of the crushing season last year which was again been repeated this year. He claimed that the delay in the start of the crushing season also reduced wheat cultivation by 15,000 acres per day.

The SAB chief said this was inspite of the fact that the government had promised to offload two million tons of surplus sugar.

He suggested that normal inflation in the price of sugar should be allowed as any move by the government to reduce the price of sugar would be detrimental to the farming community.

He said sugar should not be taxed as their was no tax on other food items. If it was not possible, he added, the general sales tax on sugar should not be more than 12.5 per cent.

Mr Nizamani feared that the country would not be able to export sugar if it continued with wrong policies.

FARMERS’ WORKSHOP: The Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources, Drainage Research Centre, Tando Jam, and the Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority, Hyderabad, will jointly organize two workshops for farmers in Mirpurkhas and Ghotki.