HYDERABAD, Sept 25: Owners of sugar mills were informed by the Sindh cane commissioner on Saturday about a meeting to be held in Karachi on Sept 28 to decide the issues of sugarcane crushing and fixation of price in the wake of Irsa's warning of acute water shortage for the Rabi season.

Sindh chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim will preside over the meeting.

It is learnt from the cane commissioner's office that communications were being sent to representatives of sugarcane growers and office-bearers of the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture, Sindh Abadgar Board and Sugarcane Growers Association.

Sindh food and agriculture minister Arif Mustafa Jatoi had failed to decide the issues in a meeting in Karachi on Friday.

The representatives of sugarcane growers and the Pakistan Sugar Mills Owners Association had attended the meeting.

'Through Friday's meeting, the mill owners have in fact conveyed a message to the Sindh chief minister that they were in a no mood to commence the crushing from October as notified by him', said SCA president Syed Qamaruzzaman Shah.

He said the chief minister had notified beginning of the crushing as per the Sugar Factories Control Act which call for the starting of the season from Oct 1.

Mr Shah said if the crushing did not begin as required then the growers would have to give water to sugarcane crop for another 30 to 45 days despite an acute water shortage in Sindh.

He said it would badly affect the sowing of wheat and the country would have to import it.

The Sindh irrigation minister, Nadir Akmal Leghari, had also saidthe crushing would start on time to save maximum water for the Rabi season.

Before starting the crushing season, the sugar mills are required to warm up machinery. It seems there are no chances of starting the crushing till the next 20 days.

"The country will bear losses once the wheat is imported and there is every likelihood that the mills owners will not abide by the notification of Sindh chief minister regarding crushing season", Mr Shah lamented.