Farmers Associates Pakistan (FAP) has strongly protested over the decision of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) to start crushing season after Eid ul Azha. Standing Committee of the FAP on sugarcane held a meeting with its convenor Malik Zafar Iqbal Khokhar in the chair, which observed that late crushing would result in loss to farmers.
The committee demanded that crushing should immediately be started as timely start of the season would benefit all the stakeholders, said a FAP spokesman here on Thursday. Throwing light on the benefits, the committee said timely start of crushing would ensure arrival of fresh sugar in the market and reduction in the prices, which would also make a positive impact on good will of the government. Farmers would be able to sow wheat well in time, which would result an increase of five maund per acres and government would achieve its wheat production target easily. It further stated that Banks would get back their loans from sugar mills.
Farmers Associates Pakistan (FAP) urged the government to pressurise sugar mills to start crushing immediately and clear all the dues. It also demanded that the Cane Procurement Receipt (CPR) should be accepted as negotiable document.
The committee also protest against decision of the government for not increasing the support price of wheat where prices of inputs like electricity, fertilisers, diesel etc were increasing day by day. It observed that it was very difficult for farmers to grow it on the present cost.
'If the farmers does not get some profit from wheat sowing, they will not grow it and shall move to other crops, which will reduce the production of wheat and Pakistan may have to import wheat again,' the committee claimed. FAP demanded that the government should fix minimum support price of wheat at Rs 1000 per maund.
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