HYDERABAD, Dec 26: The Sindh Abadgar Tehrik, deploring indifferent attitude of the government towards farming community, said that though growers were feeding the nation they themselves were hungry, sick and living in abject poverty.

Tehreek leader Ghulam Mustafa Laghari along with Gul Hassan Kerano, Deewan Arumal and others lambasted the government for neglecting them, at a press conference at the press club on Friday.

Laghari, criticising the injustice being done with farmers, said that the prices of sugar during the last one year were increased by 100 per cent but the cane by a mere Rs14 per maund. They demanded of the government to fix cane rate at Rs120 per maund along with assuring farmers of getting them their payment of last year’s crop with mark-up.

“Whenever we need fertiliser it disappears from market as even today a bag of it was being sold for Rs1,100 against the government fixed rate of Rs660,” they said adding: “Those waderas who couldn’t get tickets in general elections are now being compensated by thousands of urea bags to be disposed of in the black. Poor growers are being fleeced by them and their agents.”

Regarding paddy prices, Laghari said that though officially it had been fixed at Rs700 per maund but Passco, in connivance with rice millers, was procuring at Rs400 on the plea that its demand in international market was falling, an unacceptable plea.

He asked the government to ensure its procurement at officially fixed rate.

Cane growers have already suffered losses on account of delayed crushing, which instead of starting from Oct 15 commenced from Dec 15 in violation of Sugarcane Act, he said. Millers had adopted a novel method by purchasing cane through their employees instead of issuing indents to growers which was depriving growers of fixed rates and quality premium, he complained.

“In Sindh alone, quality premium is stated to be standing at around Rs2.5 billion which growers were being denied,” he further said.

The SAT leader, over shortage of irrigation water, said that it was being sold to big landlords by the Irrigation Department throughout Sindh but especially in Laar. This had stopped small growers from sowing seasonal crops such as wheat, sugarcane and rest while rendering thousands of acres barren, he said.

Rice growers, he said, underwent additional loss because of recent rains and demanded the government to declare Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Larkana, Dadu, Thatta, Badin and other rice producing areas as calamity hit and exempting growers from land revenue, water charges and agricultural loan as they were estimated to have had suffered a loss of Rs55 billion.

He demanded desilting of all canals and channels for ensured water supply to tail-enders, directing sugar mills to issue indents rather than making purchases directly, payment of quality premium, elimination of fertiliser black marketing and rationalised prices of pesticides, seed, diesel and other inputs.