HYDERABAD: The fresh round of talks between sugar cane growers and millers held in Karachi on Monday to settle their row over cane procurement price remained inconclusive. It was chaired by Sindh Agriculture Minister Sohail Anwar Siyal.During the meeting, which continued for about five hours, the minister heard growers and millers separately to seek their views on the issue.

The growers declined to accept anything short of Rs172/40kg which was to be paid to them by the millers in line with the Sindh High Court’s Dec 21 order.

According to the growers, the millers claimed that they could at the most pay Rs153/40kg in view of their cost of sugar production.

“We have told the meeting that we will not accept fewer than Rs172/40kg,” said Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) general secretary Zahid Bhurgari. If the government wanted to pay a subsidy, they had no objection, he said.

A source attending the meeting told Dawn that “both sides are being persuaded to review their positions”. Elaborating, he said, millers were asked to increase the rate in order to lessen the difference between Rs172 and Rs153. Likewise, he said, growers should accept a price close to Rs172/40kg or so. The next meeting has been scheduled for Jan 24, said the source.

Presided over by the agriculture minister, meeting in Karachi fails to narrow down differences between the two sides

Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB) Mahmood Nawaz Shah said that if government wanted to offer a subsidy, such a move might be put before the provincial cabinet.

He said that in the 2014-15 season, a subsidy of Rs12/40kg was announced by government which was calculated at close to Rs4 billion.

Then millers paid Rs160/40kg against the notified price of Rs182/40kg as they had moved the apex court after losing their case in the Sindh High Court, he said.

The Sindh government has to submit the outcome of the meeting in court on Jan 25 after consulting other stakeholders.

The provincial government had notified a price of Rs182/40kg on Dec 5, but the millers did not agree to it and they moved the SHC. A grower had become intervener in their petition.

After the Dec 21 ruling was issued, the Sindh High Court again heard the two sides on Jan 17 and fixed the price at Rs172/40kg. It asked the provincial government to notify the rate and ensure that millers procured the current season’s cane crop at this rate.

MIRPURKHAS: Some sugar cane growers in Mirpurkhas have alleged that the management of Al Abbas Sugar Mills, Mirwah Gorchani, was unfairly deducting five to 15 per cent weight per a tractor-trolley load on different pretexts, causing heavy losses to growers.

Speaking at a press conference here on Monday, Ghulam Fareed, Haji Wahid Bux, Mohammad Ismail Shaikh, Ajaz Panhwer, Barkat and others said they were already getting as low the rate as Rs130/40kg for their cane crop owing to inefficiency of the Sindh government.

They said the mills management had failed to make payment of the sugar cane supplied to them two weeks ago and now they were deducting weight unfairly, which was illegal and creating resentment and unrest among growers.

They said when they complained to the management of the mills about it, they tried to blackmail them by threatened to stop issuing indents.

They urged the higher authorities to take notice of the illegal practice on the part of the Al Abbas Sugar Mills and stop them from deducting this much weight.

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2018