SARC demands government to fix adequate price of sugarcane

HYDERABAD: The Sindh Agriculture Research Council (SARC) Thursday asked the provincial government to address the issues of water shortage for winter crops and fix adequate price of the sugarcane crop.

The demand was made at a dialogue organized by SARC at Hyderabad Press Club on Thursday where participants discussed issues affecting the farmers in Sindh including shortage of water and uncertainty of availability of water for winter crop and fair price of sugarcane crop.

SARC's Advocate Ali Palh, Prof. Ismail Kumbhar of Sindh Agriculture University, Dost Muhammad Baloch of Matiari Sugar Mill, Shabir Ahmed from Mehran Sugar Mill, peasants representatives Ghulam Ali Laghari and Murtaza Otho, Dr Shahnawaz Dal and other stakeholders expressed their views.

The recommendations supported construction of any dam which had been approved by Council of the Common Interests (CCI) and keeping in view the issues of delta, environment protection and shared water control.

The recommendations called for implementation of Supreme Court's order with regard to removing all direct outlets from the irrigation canals while it rejected Sindh Government's offer of fixing Rs.160 per 40 kilogram price of sugarcane.

"This is fourth consecutive year that growers of sugarcane are in crises and Sindh government has failed to resolve this issue," the participants deplored while the SARC warned of staging protest outside CM House in Karachi over the matter.

The recommendations demanded action against sale of spurious seed, pesticides, fertilizer and other inputs while seeking close coordination among Irrigation, Food and Agriculture ministries.

It called for providing subsidized solar tube wells and tractors to the growers. Concerns were also expressed against corruption specifically in Sindh Irrigation Department.