HYDERABAD: The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture has strongly criticized the government’s sugar policies and demanded to de-regulate the sugar industry and sugar sector be removed from government control.
The Chamber termed the government’s decision to import sugar from abroad as an “economic massacre” of sugarcane farmers. It also once again appealed to Sindh farmers not to cultivate wheat in the upcoming 2025-2026 season.
In a Statement issued from the Chamber's central headquarters in Hyderabad, Professor Dr. Syed Nadeem Qamar, the Central Chief Patron and President of the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture, harshly criticized the government's policies regarding sugar industries. He demanded that sugar industry must be de-regulated like wheat and other crops, and removed from government intervention. The sugar industry should be governed by market forces of supply and demand.
He further said that the government should avoid importing sugar, as by June 30, 2025, the country already had a stockpile of 2.5 million metric tons of sugar, which would be sufficient until mid November 2025. With a monthly consumption of approximately 533,000 metric tons, the current stock would easily meet the national demand until mid-November 2025. He noted that sugar mills will be ready to start crushing by October 25, which will ensure fresh supply into the market, thereby saving valuable foreign exchange.
He also highlighted that 80% of sugar consumption is by corporate sectors like soft drink factories, biscuit factories, bakeries, confectionery, and other commercial products, while only 20% is consumed by households. Therefore, keeping sugar prices under government control benefits commercial traders more than household consumers.
He warned that if sugar is imported, it will arrive in Pakistan by the end of October 2025, while the local crushing season begins from November 1, 2025. This overlap would result in local farmers not receiving fair prices for their sugarcane crop. He also predicted a bumper sugarcane crop this year due to timely monsoon rains.
The Chamber stated that the decision to import sugar would amount to economic murder of sugarcane farmers, as sugar mill owners would use the imported sugar as an excuse to deny fair prices to local Sugarcane growers. In the current inflationary period, the minimum price for sugarcane should be no less than Rs. 600 per 40 kg (maund).
He reminded that under IMF pressure, the government has already withdrawn from buying wheat and removed it from official controls. If such deregulation is possible for wheat and the government no longer sets support prices, then there is no moral justification for the government to fix prices for sugar or other commodities.
He also criticized the government's directive to sell sugar at Rs. 165--170 per kilogram, demanding that sugar be governed solely by market demand. Farmers have already suffered heavy losses in wheat, cotton, mustard, vegetables, and other crops. Their last hope lies in getting a fair price for their sugarcane.
The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture urged all farmers in Sindh to completely boycott wheat cultivation in the 2025-2026 seasons and only grow it for their personal household consumption only because we feel that growers like last year will again loose the money in this crop. The wheat growing expenses are more than the income in this crop. We want to save the growers from continuous financial loss in the wheat crop. The growers of wheat will painfully celebrate year 2025-26 as wheat growing boycott year.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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