KP farmers demand arrears from sugar mills

PESHAWAR: The representatives of farmers association have demanded the disbursement of arrears to sugarcane growers from sugar mills in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the light of superior court verdict to procure the produce from growers at Rs180 per maund.

Speaking at a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Monday, Kisan Board Khyber Pakhtunkhwa President Rizwanullah Khan said the KP millers had procured sugarcane from growers at Rs120 and Rs130 per 40/kg during the last season, which was against the total cost of production.

He said the delay in procurement of sugarcane also caused huge financial losses to the provincial exchequer. Rizwanullah Khan said the growers lodged a strong protest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab against the unfair price.

He said the Supreme Court took notice of the issue and issued order to ensure disbursement of the outstanding dues to sugarcane farmers as per price of Rs180 per maund. But, he added, the sugar mills were openly defying the order of the superior judiciary and had not released the arrears to the farmers in KP, which had created great unrest among them.

Rizwanullah urged the authorities concerned to play their role for early release of the outstanding dues to the sugarcane farmers to spend the amount in harvest during the upcoming season. He said that tobacco was a cash crop of the province, which is mostly cultivated in Mardan, Swabi, Charsadda districts and Hazara division, while the federal and provincial governments had generated hefty revenue on federal excise duty and provincial cess.

However, he said the federal government had imposed additional taxes on tobacco crop by taking stance of substantial decrease in tobacco revenue, due to which the farmers faced financial crisis. He called for regulating of gur export to generate revenue in the formal economy of the country.

The farmers representative criticised the provincial government for its failure to frame any vibrant policy for uplift of agriculture sector. He hoped the new government would give priority to agriculture sector in the province. Safi said that no testing laboratory was established in KP. He said the growers had suffered huge financial losses due to wrong policies of the provincial government. Rizwanullah said the growers would strongly protest and stage sit-in in Peshawar if their demand was not accepted amicably.