PESHAWAR: All operational sugar mills in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will start sugarcane crushing from Wednesday (November 30).
"Premier Sugar Mills (PSM) Mardan has already started crushing while six others will start it from November 29 or 30," told Qadir Khattak, an official of the sugar mills association while talking to APP on Monday.
Dispute on the rate of sugarcane has once again erupted between the growers and sugar millers of the province.
The sugar mills have offered minimum price of Rs.150 per 40 kilogram sugarcane while the growers are demanding more than Rs 300 for the commodity.
He said that the sugar mills are awaiting the issuance of formal notification regarding the price of the commodity as pledged in the partite meeting of growers, sugar mills and provincial government.
In response to a question, he said that the province has produced bumper sugarcane crop, saying that production of sugar this year will remain higher than last year.
Meanwhile, on contact Aamir Khan an official at Chashma Sugar Mills, D.I. Khan said that the mill is all set to start sugarcane crushing from Wednesday.
He said the management of mill has already started issuing indents to farmers. He said that sufficient supply of sugarcane has started arrival in the mills. He said that the mills are offering a minimum price of Rs.150 for 40 kilogram commodity.
Similarly, an official at Khazana Sugar Mills (KSM) also confirmed the issuance of indents and starting of the crushing season from Wednesday (November 30).
He said that the sugarcane supply to the mill has started. The rate of sugarcane always remained a bone of contention between the sugarcane growers and sugar mills of the province.
The growers are demanding the fixation of the rate of the commodity in proportion to the cost of production while millers are demanding its bringing at par with other parts of the country.
Delay and low price of the sugarcane in the province have triggered protest in the province demanding timely start of sugarcane crushing season and higher price for their commodity.
The provincial government during third week of the current month convened a tripartite meeting of growers, sugar millers and officials of the department of agriculture and food to decide the matter.
During the same meeting, the provincial government asked the sugar millers for starting crushing season in last week of the current month.
The meeting also directed the sugar millers for timely payments to the growers and in case of any delay the government will not only make recovery from the mills, but they will also have to pay 18 per cent profit on it.
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