ISLAMABAD, Sept 28: Federal agriculture ministry has asked Sindh and Punjab to ensure the timely start of sugarcane crushing season as millers have hinted towards a two-month delay due to what they claim massive unsold sugar stocks in their warehouses.Sindh and Punjab have to start the sugarcane crushing season on October 1 and November 1, respectively, as per the sugar control acts of both the provinces.

But, the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) has hinted towards a delay in the crushing season that would have severe economic impacts on farmers and is likely to cause a crisis.

Speaking at a press conference here on Thursday, Federal Agriculture Minister Sikandar Hayat Bosan asked the governments of Sindh and Punjab to ensure that farmers got the price set by them and that the sugarcane crushing season starts on time.

No sugar cartel will be allowed to exploit the farmers or delay crushing, Mr Bosan said in reply to a question.

The agriculture minister also announced a government’s decision to subsidise all phosphatic and potassic fertilisers in order to promote their use. This package involves a financial outlay of Rs6.182bn, whereas total subsidy on fertilisers in 2006-07 is Rs12.320bn.

According to the package, Rs250 has been reduced on each bag of DAP and TSP, SOP, MOP, Rs257 on MOP, Rs98 on SSP(P), Rs109 on SSP(G), Rs125 on NP and Rs186 on NPK.

Mr Bosan said the fertiliser consumption in Pakistan was skewed in favour of nitrogen (urea). Presently, yield obtained by average farmers was about 40-70 per cent of that which could be obtained by progressive farmers with recommended rates and balanced use of fertiliser.

He said the price of nitrogenous fertiliser (urea) at farm-gate was less then half of phosphatic and potassic fertilisers, thus farmers preferred to apply urea compared to other fertilisers.

The minister said that urea prices would meanwhile remain unaffected. He said a media campaign would also be launched to promote the balance use of fertilisers.

The Sindh government has fixed October 1 as the crushing date despite the fact that the Sindh Sugarcane Board on August 26 called a meeting which was attended by all the stakeholders and it was unanimously decided not to start crushing before November.

The board had argued that they would be starting boilers some time in November.

Meanwhile, the PSMA has highlighted four points as conditions to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz for starting crushing season 2006-07 from which it seems that another sugar crisis is looming this year as well.

Sources in the agriculture ministry said that this year’s crisis would even be worse than that of the previous years.

The conditions set by the millers include review of sugarcane support price of Rs6O per 40-kg announced by Punjab, suspension of sugar stock off-loading by TCP, clamping of 20pc duty on import of raw and refined sugar and the rollback of regulatory duty on export to Afghanistan. The last condition is aimed at ensuring the availability of an additional sugar market.

There are about 28 sugar mills in Sindh and most of them run under capacity.

Officials said that the delay in cane crushing would have deleterious impact on the wheat sowing schedule and sugar production.