HYDERABAD, Feb 17: Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock Sikandar Hayat Bosan and Federal Minister for Industries, Production and Special Initiatives Jehangir Khan Tareen have said that the government will amend the Sugar Factories Control Act before the beginning of the next sugar cane season.

Attributing the present sugar crisis to rise in prices of sugar and its shortage internationally, they said that two industrial zones would be established in Karachi on 250 and 1,500 acres for which work would begin in June and July this year.

They were speaking to journalists and addressing members of the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture here on Friday.

They inaugurated three watercourses, two in Hyderabad and one in Jamshoro district. A watercourse of Kalri Baghar feeder was lined on 900 meters against its actual length of 3,100 meters at a cost of Rs417,057 while other two were lined on 700 meters against actual length of 2,340 meters at a cost of Rs565,924.

He said the government had exempted agriculture processing of duty whereas a station was being set up in Kunri to dry chillies for avoiding a disease that afflicted crops due to heavy moisture content.

He said the project would be supported by the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council and farmers would be given training there as well.

Mr Tareen said that the sugar crisis was linked with international steep in prices of sugar and its shortage.

He said that in international market sugar prices increased to $460 from $260.

He said that at present there was shortfall of one million tones of sugar in the country and it is being imported now.

He said that in Sindh sugar mills remained closed for one month but in the Rahimyar Khan district (the Seraiki belt) mills were never closed.

He said that sugar cane growers initially got Rs60 per 40 kilogram of cane which kept increasing with the passage of time after sugar prices increased in the market.

He said that growers were being given fertilizers and loan and it should be offered by sugar mill owners.

He disagreed with SCA’s contention that small sugar industries should be set up and quoted example of Brazil where no factory had a crushing capacity of less than 20,000 tones of cane.

He said that two industrial zones were being established in Karachi on 250 and 1,500 acres by government for which work would begin in June and July.

Mr Sikandar Hayat Bosan underscored the need for making agriculture a profitable sector of the country otherwise people would not invest in this field and problems of agriculturists would remain unresolved.

He disclosed that federal government had decided to establish more vegetable and fruit markets in big cities on the pattern of Karachi to promote competition.

He said, “The government is also working on a Rs4 billion project of storage of crops because the growers did not have that capacity with the result that crops get destroyed.”

Regarding complaints about livestock, the minister pointed out that a policy was being presented to prime minister next week under which all banks would offer financial support to growers with minimum mark-up rate.

He said that work on “Dairy Pakistan” was also underway in which 100 farms would be developed but people would have to make a handsome investment as well to get advantage of bank loan and that the private sector was having a lead in this field.

He said the government would only facilitate private sector which would make its own investment.

He said that revolution in the country was directly linked with improvement of rural area population.