MIRPURKHAS: Farmers have demanded the Sindh government to fix the rate of sugar cane officially at Rs650 per maund and allow them to immediately harvest and deliver it to sugar mills to save the commodity from damages.

They put forward the demand at a meeting of local farmers held at the lawn of a local landlord, Mansoor Cheema, here on Wednesday.

Dozens of farmers, including Haji Umer Bughio, Muhammad Khan Leghari, Imamuddin Maher, Mumtaz Ali Shah, Mansoor Ahmed Cheema, Chaudhry Ehsanul Haq, Mumtaz Marri etc.

Speaking on the occasion, a landlord, Iqbal Jan Sarhandi, said the farmers suffered huge expenses in the cultivation of cane crop, its harvest and transportation to sugar mills; “we only demand the rate of cane as rate of three kilogramme of sugar”.

He urged the government to take notice of the grievances of the farmers who were the backbone of the agriculture economy of the country.

Muhammad Umer Bughio and Ehsanul Haq expressed deep concern over exploitation of the farmers despite the fact that they took pains in running the agriculture sector.

They stressed need for fixing the official price of cane at Rs650 per maund to compensate the losses of the farmers.

Mumtaz Ali Shah, Muhammad Khan Leghari and Imamuddin Maher said they had spent a lot of money in the agriculture sector but as result they only bore huge losses because no reasonable rate was offered to the farmers. The government should adopt a suitable policy to benefit the farmers, they added.

They threatened to launch a protest demonstration throughout Sindh if their genuine demands were not accepted.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2025