Non-supply of sugarcane: Sugar mills in Mardan closed down

MARDAN: The management of Premier Sugar Mills here has decided to close the factory because of non-supply of sugarcane by the growers of the area.

It may be added that there are four sugar mills in Peshawar valley including Premier Sugar Mills in Mardan, Khazana Sugar Mills in Peshawar, Charsadda Sugar Mills and Frontier Sugar Mills in Takhtbhai, Mardan. Only the Premier Sugar Mills was operational, but it too has now closed down. The mills resumed operations in the current season but was closed just after 20 days because of non-availability of sugarcane.

Meanwhile, a local grower Muslim Khan Mohmand told this scribe that growers refused to supply sugarcane to the Premier Sugar Mills because of low price. He expressed his wonder that earlier the mills fixed price of Rs350 per 40 kg but later reduced it to Rs250.

“Therefore, the growers decided not to supply sugarcane to the mills. Gur (jaggery) dealers give reasonable rates to the growers. They even buy the crop in the field before harvest and this saved expenses of harvesting and transporting sugarcane to the mills,” he argued.

Muslim Khan Mohmand, the grower, added that cutting of binding material and other waste from their loaded trucks and tractor-trolleys by the mills is also causing losses to the growers. He said that currently gur dealers gave them Rs18,000 per 160 kg. He added that the mills gave Rs10,000 only to the growers for 160 kg of sugarcane. “The difference is of Rs8,000 so why should we give our sugarcane to the mills?” he maintained.

Meanwhile, an official of Premier Sugar Mills rejected the allegations of the growers and claimed that earlier they fixed Rs350 per 40 kg but growers were reluctant to supply sugarcane to the mills. “We even facilitated them to supply sugarcane to the mills without cutting and transport expenditure but despite all these incentives the growers stopped supply to our mills. We had no option but to close down the mills,” the official argued.