FAISALABAD, Nov 30: Inordinate delay in the commencement of sugar cane crushing season has triggered hordes of complications, including financial loss to growers and a halt to sowing of wheat crop.

Information retrieved by this correspondent here on Friday revealed that six sugar mills in the district, which normally start crushing in the first week of November were inoperative.

The Fauji sugar mills, Sangla Hills, Sheikhupura, was the only place where crushing began in the second week of last month.

Hundreds of tractor trolleys laden with sugar cane were seen spreading over four to five miles outside the mill.

Growers from far-flung areas in the districts of Jhang, Hafizabad, Mandi Bahauddin, Gujranwala, Faisalabad and Toba Tek Singh had thronged the Fauji Sugar mills for selling their produce.

However, rush outside the mill had kept them at constant disease.

Rab Nawaz of Chak 107-JB, Faisalabad, told this correspondent that he had been outside the mill for the last three days and chances of his return before another two days were little.

Some of his relatives among the growers had, he said, hired trolleys for the purpose. He said his son Aslam had to bring meals for Sehr-o-Iftar, covering 20-kilometre distance on bicycle every day.

A number of aged farmers grumbled that unnecessary delay in crushing had brought them closer to financial crisis as they were dependent on income generated from the sale of sugar cane, purchasing seed, fertilizer for wheat sowing and payment of ADBP loans.

The growers also feared they would be facing almost five kilogrammes loss of wheat per acre daily.

Waiting outside the Fauji sugar mill, growers complained its authorities were exploiting them by not paying fixed rates. They had been paying Rs35 per 40kg instead of Rs42, they said. Some of them said harvested sugar cane lying in the fields was being wasted. Huge quantity of sugar cane is still piling up in their fields for the last couple of months to the detriment of the growers in the form of reduced weight and to the benefit of mills in the shape of enhanced sucrose level.

The growers continued agriculture experts had failed to develop better varieties of sugar cane despite conducive soil and weather conditions.

“ We had been using Indian variety — COJ-84 — for the last couple of decades and that had lost its yield.” They maintained two varieties had recently been released by scientists in the Ayub Agricultural Research Institute and Shakar Ganj Sugar Mills in private sector. However, they lamented seeds of such varieties were never available to fulfil their requirements.

Meanwhile, Farmers Association president Tahir Saeed expressed concern over the indifferent attitude of the government and agencies concerned.

He said input of the sugar cane crop and the cost of sprays had divested growers of any charm they had in sowing as the profit of per maund had been reduced to Rs1 or 2.

He feared the growers would stop cultivating only to add problems to the government if steps to resolve their problems were not taken at the earliest.

Being the owners of sugar mills, he believed, political families were hatching conspiracy to ail both government and the growers.

He urged the government to save the farmers from unending trouble by ensuring fixed prices and bringing the culprits to book.