LAHORE, Jan 9: Farmers’ bodies on Tuesday accused the millers of exploiting growers and consumers by paying less and charging more from their Indian counterparts.

Comparing Indian sugar and cane prices to those in Pakistan, they said official cane price in India was Rs73.32 per 40kg in Pak rupee, whereas in open market it was Rs78.96 per 40kg. But the sugar price

in India was only Rs27.49 per kg.

The “inefficient but politically strong” industry in Pakistan was passing on the cost of its inefficiency to the consumers and farmers as it was selling sugar at Rs30 per kg (ex-mill price) and Rs32 in retail and paying Rs60 per 40kg to farmers.

Ibrahim Mughal of the AgriForum Pakistan on Tuesday wrote letters to the president and the prime minister about the comparison. “The Indian cane is not good in quality because of its less sucrose contents,” the letter said.

The millers were on the record opposing sowing of the Indian cane in Pakistan because of a sugar recovery problem. “If that is true, it only reflects further inefficiency of the millers in Pakistan,” the letter said. If Indian millers can pay more for less recovery and sell sugar at lower price, the same should happen in Pakistan.

At present, most of the Punjab cane was going to the NWFP and Sindh because millers in both provinces were paying more to the farmers, the letter stated. But millers from Punjab were depending on their political influence, rather than business sense. This could cost dearly to the millers next season, according to the letter.

The cane acreage could increase in the next year but cane would go to other provinces, he feared. Should that happen, as happening this year, the Punjab government would find it hard to meet its cess target. It gets some Rs600 million on this head and develops rural infrastructure in the province. Thus, the farmers and government would suffer the loss, Mr Mughal lamented.

Farooq Bajwa of the Farmers Associate of Pakistan (FAP) thinks that the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock has reportedly promised the millers to fix the sugar price to Rs31 (ex-mill) per kg.