Sugarcane farmers have urged the government to impose import duty on sugar, as any further delay would make crushing unviable for the sugar industry, which would affect the payments to farmers and cane purchases by mills directly from farmers.
In a meeting of Pakistan Kisan Movement held here on Thursday, presided over by its President Chaudhry Muhammad Ashfaq, the farmers expressed their worries over the fall of sugar prices on daily basis and problems being faced by the sugar mills in disposing off their stocks before the start of next crushing season.
They said the sugar millers would cause undue delay in release of payments to the sugarcane farmers in the upcoming crushing season in case they are unable to recover their cost in the next crushing season.
They also showed concern on the falling sugar prices in the international market, as there is zero import duty on sugar. Commenting on the fixation of sugarcane support price against previous sugarcane prices of Rs 45 per maund in Punjab, the farmers said it would prove negative if sugar prices fall below the production cost of the mills.
"The government has also doubled the road cess amount from 50 paisas to Rs 1, which is shared equally by the mills and the growers and this would put extra burden on Punjab growers, as the road cess rate in other provinces is not increased," they added.
They also pointed out that the sugarcane would reach the mills with extra cost of Rs 10 per maund with a total of Rs 70 per maund price, due to transportation cost and if the millers are unable to meet the production cost against sugarcane price, this would mean delay in payment to growers or stoppage of the crushing by the mills.
The farmers also feared that the sad episode of 2001 is very much likely to be repeated during upcoming crushing season, therefore they all strongly urged the government to adopt immediate measures to check any untoward situation and save the sugarcane growers from disaster.
They demanded immediate imposition of import duty on import of sugar and added that the farmers, if pushed into crisis situation, would have no choice but to come on roads in case the government failed to move fast and take action in saving the country's farming community without further delay.
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