The president of the Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), Mian Zahid Hussain, has asked the government to find a solution to the standoff between cane millers and farmers. Increased sugarcane production has resulted in larger surplus stocks and bigger problems which need the immediate attention of the federal and provincial governments before the situation becomes unmanageable, Mian Zahid Hussain said.
He said that the growing tensions between owners of the sugar mills and growers will have a negative effect on production and jobs, effecting millions of sugarcane planters and hitting the market catering for the needs of the whole population. He said that sugar mills are demanding increased subsidy on export of sugar to tackle surplus stocks of five million tons which can increase to eight million tons due to the bumper crop.
The millers want the federal government to increase the export subsidy from Rs 10.70 to Rs 19. Otherwise they will not be able to pay more than Rs 145 per 40kg of sugarcane whose price has been fixed at Rs 180 per 40kg. On the other hand, the growers want the Sindh government to announce a price of Rs 182 per 40kg before the crushing season. Prolonged disagreement can delay crushing, he said, which will not only hit growers but also damage wheat and other Rabi crops that follow the sugarcane crop. Punjab has already notified the price of 40kg of sugarcane at Rs 180, but the government of Sindh is yet to notify them.