The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA), a farmers’ lobbying group, on Sunday demanded at least Rs450 per per maund for sugarcane crop, keeping in view of the ever increasingcostof inputs and crop cultivation.
They rejected Rs425 per 40 kilogrampricefixed for the cropfromthe growers by the sugar mills. Thepricesof seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, fuel and machinery have increased by leaps and bounds, they observed.
They pointed out that thegovernmenthad not increased thepriceofgasfor the fertilizer industries but still the farmers were being extorted for expensive rates for bags of fertilizer.
The farmers complained that the dealers selling fertilizer had also turned into a mafia which first stockpiled the supplies and then demanded higher than the factory rates for the bags.
The SCA’s President demanded that thegovernmentshould take action against the industries and dealers by sealing shops of the latter.
He said the season of sowing thewheatcrop would start soon and requested the caretakergovernmentto take action against hoarding and overpricing to prevent the common peoplefromsufferingfoodpriceinflation.
Thechamber’s president said inflation had made it difficult for the farmers to growwheatcrop.He suggested thegovernmentprovide loans with 3 to 5 percent markup rate to thewheatfarmers so that they could grow that crop.
He lamented that despite abundantwaterin the Indus River system,shortageof irrigationwaterwas being witnessed in many command areas ofRohri,Nara, Phuleli and other canals.
He asked thegovernmentto immediately put an end to thewaterrotation which was practised during the times ofwaterscarcity, adding the growers of dates had suffered losses in 2 successive years because of torrentialrainsand requested thegovernmentto chalk out a compensation plan as well as low markup credit programs for those affected growers.
Zahid Hussain Bhurgari, Nabi Bux Sathio, SyedAltaf HussainShah, Haji Hussain Bux Laghari, Abdul Haleem Memon and other office bearers and members of the SCA attended the meeting.
