Farmers’ payment issue: Govt urged to export surplus sugar on priority basis

LAHORE : Anjuman-e-Kaashtkaran Punjab Chairman Rana Iftikhar Muhammad has said that almost two months are left in the start of the new crushing season but payments of some farmers are still owed to the mills which will only be possible if the federal government allowed export of entire surplus sugar. If the export is not allowed, the farmers will come out on the roads. He expressed these views in a meeting with Chairman of Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) Punjab Zone on Friday.

He said that non-payment of cane dues to farmers is a major concern. Farmers are the backbone of the country's economy. Farmers have been hit hard in all crops and sugarcane is the only crop from which the farmer can make some profit and prosper, he said.

The government should have made the export of surplus sugar on a priority basis, but sadly, the next crushing season is barely two months away and the warehouses of the mills are still full of sugar. Farmers estimate that due to the good sugarcane crop next year, about 1.5 million tons of surplus sugar will be made.

The PSMA-PZ Chairman said that the sugar industry also gave importance to the problems of farmers. He said that after exporting only 0.1 million tons of sugar, the govt has stopped export completely and that’s why the next crushing season is getting tougher to start.

Rana Iftikhar said that the problems of the sugar industry should be resolved immediately. He said that farmers and the sugar industry stand side-by-side. He also reiterated to work together with the industry.