NAUSHAHRO FEROZE, Jan 21: Thousands of growers, staged a rally here on Tuesday and blocked the National Highway for three hours to protest against the non-payment of the government-fixed price of sugarcane by the sugar mills.

Speaking to the protesters, Nawabshah district Naib Nazim Syed Hassan Ali Shah said that it was the responsibility of the government to implement its notification, the regarding sugarcane rate.

He said that due to the government failure to implement the notification, the growers were protesting all over Sindh.

The organizer of the Save Agriculture Movement (SAM), Sohail Abbasi said that the growers had already sustained heavy losses due to the acute shortage of water and now the mills were compelling them to sell sugarcane much below the cost of crop.

He said that the protests of the growers were legal as they were fighting for implementation of the government decision.

SAM general secretary Abdul Shakoor Abbasi said that after the decision of the federal cabinet to buy about 500,000 tons of sugar through the Trading Corporation of Pakistan, there was no justification for the mills to drag the issue of sugarcane rate.

He said that the millers would earn a big profit but they were not ready to pay a reasonable price of sugarcane to growers.

He apprehended a 1999-like situation when sugar was sold at Rs31 per kg but growers were paid Rs 36 for 40kg of sugarcane.

The protest was led Sohail Abbasi, vice-president, Sindh Abadgar Board, Ashfaq Ahmed Taggar, and others.

Nazim Kot Bahadur union council, Haji Mirza; Nazim, Ghairgajo UC, Abdul Fatah; Nazim, Pul UC, Abdul Waheed Abbasi; Naib Nazim, Naushahro Feroze UC; Abdul Rahim Abbasi and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s local leader Ghulam Asghar Abbasi also attended the rally.

Later, the growers dispersed peacefully.

A heavy contingent of the police was present to avert any untoward incident.

KHAIRPUR: Sugarcane growers of Khairpur district observed no protest on Tuesday due to blocking of different roads by the police.