Growers demand postponement of ban on 3 cane varieties

HYDERABAD: Prior to imposing the ban on 3 varieties of cane crops, the growers have urged Sindh government to call a joint meeting of agriculture research centres, experts and growers' representatives on the platform of Sindh Seed Council.

The demand was made here on Friday at the meeting of Sindh Chamber of Agriculture which was presided over by Akhund Ghulam Muhammad while a former Crop Commissioner Pakistan Qadir Baksh Baloch, Agha Nasrullah Khan, Nabi Bux Sathio, Mir Abdul Karim Talpur, Muhammad Khan Sarejo, Mir Imdad and other growers' representatives from different districts of the province attended.

The participants said the ban should not be imposed unless the suggested meeting was held and it made a decision in favour of prohibiting the purchase of the said varieties.

They called for postponing the ban for 3 years unless the growers who were cultivating the prohibited crops had sown the substitute varieties. Nabi Bux Sathio warned of colossal damage to cane cropping if the sugar mills did not buy the banned varieties.

"The decision serves the interest of sugar mills owners who want the ban to maximize their profits by inflicting losses on the growers," he accused.

The meeting lamented that while the upper Sindh areas were facing a medium level flood yet the sensitive embankments of Indus River and other irrigation infrastructure ravaged by the floods last year was still not reconstructed completely.

"While the government is left with little time yet it can complete a great deal of work if adequate steps were taken," they said. Former Crop Commissioner Pakistan Qadir Baksh Baloch who attended the meeting appreciated the briefing given by Sindh Chamber of Agriculture on the overall state of agriculture in Sindh. Meanwhile, Sindh Chamber of Agriculture welcomed Colonel (Retd) Mir Muhammad Panhwar as the new member of the group on the occasion.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011