10-day deadline issued: Farmers demand Rs650 per maund sugarcane price
KARACHI: Farmers, demanding sugarcane price of Rs 650 per maund, have given the government a 10-day deadline to announce the support prices and start sugarcane crushing, warning that farmers would march towards Islamabad if their demands were not met.
Addressing a joint press conference at the Karachi Press Club here on Wednesday, leaders of the Sindh Abadgar Ittehad and Kisan Ittehad alleged that sugar mill owners resort to similar tactics at the beginning of every crushing season to deprive farmers of a fair price for their produce.
They warned that the government had been given a 10-day deadline to meet the farmers’ demands.
“If the crushing season does not begin within the stipulated period and our demands are not accepted, farmers will stage a protest in Islamabad,” they said.
Khalid Hussain Batth, President Kisan Ittehad said the government had neither issued a notification fixing the sugarcane price nor announced a date for the commencement of crushing, creating serious uncertainty among growers.
Announcing a demand a support price of Rs 650 per maund for sugarcane and Rs 4,500 per maund for wheat, Batth said wheat prices had continued to rise and the authorities are not taking any action.
“Pakistan is an agricultural country, yet people are being forced to buy flour at Rs 190 per kilogram,” he said, adding that the country lacked an effective agricultural policy while the general public continued to suffer from inflation.
Batth claimed that a third shipment of imported wheat had arrived, despite concerns over the quality of imported wheat, however, prices are still not declined.
He demanded that the government should prioritize farmers’ concerns and immediately commence sugarcane crushing, he added.
Sindh Abadgar Ittehad President Nawab Zubair Talpur said the sugarcane crushing season should have commenced on November 1, but sugar mills had yet to begin operations. He urged the government to direct sugar mill owners to immediately start crushing sugarcane and ensure that farmers receive a fair price for their produce.
He said farmers had never been consulted on sugar exports and questioned why the government was not exporting sugar despite having around 1 million tonnes of surplus stocks in the country.
Talpur alleged that the Sindh and Punjab governments were not serious about resolving farmers’ issues. He added that growers had yet to receive payments for their sugarcane supplies.
He said the agricultural sector was already facing multiple challenges, including water shortages and rising input costs, making farming increasingly difficult.
Talpur said water was not reaching tail-end areas of the irrigation system, while the shortage had severely damaged farmers’ crops. He added that rising prices of DAP fertiliser and diesel were further increasing the cost of agricultural production.
Meanwhile, the Sindh Abadgar Ittehad and Kisan Ittehad have jointly protest outside the Karachi Press Club and said they would announce their future course of action today (Thursday) evening.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026