LARKANA, Dec 9: The Larkana district government has urged the federal agriculture ministry to make arrangements for the procurement of the sugdasi variety of rice lying in huge quantities in warehouses in upper Sindh and Balochistan.

Sources in the district government told Dawn on Wednesday that following the interest shown by different Middle Eastern countries and Sri Lanka in the purchase of sugdasi, growers in two provinces cultivated this aromatic variety on a vast area.

A couple of months back, Sri Lanka expressed its willingness to purchase 20,000 tons of rice. But a group of traders from Punjab intervened and got the contract cancelled by exerting pressure on the Trading Corporation of Pakistan, the sources added.

Talking to Dawn, Sindh-Balochistan Rice Millers and Traders Association president Gada Hussain Mahisar said despite various efforts the association had failed to dispose of huge stocks of rice stored in around 750 rice mills in Sindh and Balochistan.