HYDERABAD, Sept 16: The Sugarcane Control Board, Sindh, failed to develop consensus over fixing minimum price of sugarcane at its meeting at the cane commissioner's office here on Thursday.

Cane commissioner Nazar Mohammad Baloch presided over the meeting. He told the participants that cultivation of sugarcane crop had decreased due to difficulties experienced by farmers. He said the middleman system encouraged by mill managements was the main cause.

He said the decrease in cultivation of the crop would not only create sugar crisis but also pose a threat to the sugar industry and increase unemployment. Mr Baloch denied that enough stock of sugar was available with the Trading Corporation of Pakistan and added that imported sugar would be more costly as compared to local production.

However, he said the government had decided to fix the rate of sugarcane in consultation with the Sugarcane Control Board in such a way that neither the sugar price increased nor farmers suffered losses.

Representatives of growers' organizations wanted the minimum price of sugarcane be fixed by considering prices of agricultural inputs but they could not decide one price.

Dr Syed Shahnawaz Shah, who represented the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture, said the minimum sugarcane price should be fixed at more than Rs45 per 40 kilograms while Umer Farooq, Dr Mohammad Bashir Nizamani and Mehfooz Ursani said the price should be Rs55 per 40kgs.

Other members of the board from growers' side, Arbab Faiz Mohammad, Raees Mohammad Bux Mari and Karam Din Jalbani, recommended Rs65 as the minimum price per 40kgs of sugarcane. Representatives of sugar mills suggested either to continue prevailing price of Rs41 per 40kgs or fix the rate according to prices of sugar in the market.

About outstanding amount of the sugar cess development fund, the cane commissioner informed the meeting that Rs112.208 million was outstanding against five mills - Rs29.5745 million against the Al-Asif Sugar Mills, Rs47.0603 million against the Bawani Sugar Mills, Rs4.3504 million against the Pangrio Sugar Mills, Rs10.7595 million against the Tharparkar Sugar Mills and Rs20.4639 million against the Seri Sugar Mills.

Besides, he added, farmers' Rs7.551 million of crushing season 2003-2004 remained outstanding against the Thatta Sugar Mills, DaduSugar Mills and the Kiran Sugar Mills.

He further said the Al-Noor Sugar Mills, Moro, Habib Sugar Mills, Nawabshah, Khairpur Sugar Mills, Ranipur Sugar Mills, Sakrand Sugar Mills, Sanghar Sugar Mills, Dadu Sugar Mills, Thatta Sugar Mills and the Kiran Sugar Mills Rohri were amongst the mills that had not paid Rs43 per 40kgs of sugarcane to farmers and as such, the mills had to pay Rs161.389344 million to farmers.

Mr Baloch said cases were being registered against defaulting mills to ensure payment of dues to growers. He told the meeting that the Sindh government had been asked for constituting vigilance committees to stop illegal deduction in weight of sugarcane by mills.

The Sugarcane Control Board unanimously adopted a resolution tabled by Mohammad Khan Jatoi, cane manager of the Khairpur Sugar Mills, about constructing a bridge over the Rohri Canal near Khairpur from the head of the sugar cess development fund. Mr Jatoi said Rs40 million had been deposited only by his mill as the sugar cess fund.