KARACHI: Sindh’s sugarcane growers’ organizations on Tuesday decried over double jeopardy with them as on one hand they are unable to get appropriate rates of their products from sugar mills and on the other hand there is shortage of irrigation water, which has caused them huge financial losses.

Addressing a joint press conference at Karachi Press Club (KPC), the representatives of five growers’ organisations including Sindh Agriculture Research Council, Farmers Organisation Council, Sindh Abadgar Association, Tail Abadgar Association and Hari Abadgar Ittehad urged the Cane Commissioner of government of Sindh to implement the Sindh High Court’s orders regarding sugar mills’ payment to growers.

“We have faced financial hardships due to non payments or low rates delayed payments by sugar mills. Another problems is we are unable to sow next crop due to shortage of irrigation water at the tail-end,” said Ali Palh, a representative of the growers.

Civil society’s leaders Karamat Ali, Qazi Khizar and Shaikh Majeed were also present during the press conference. They also supported the demands of the growers.

Palh said Sindh government had issued a notification, fixing the price of sugarcane at Rs. 182 per maund, but mills refused to start the crushing. Later Sindh High Court fixed the rate at Rs. 172 and then Rs. 160 per maund but even those verdicts were also not implemented. Due to adamant attitude of the sugar mills, the growers are facing hardships. Protests marches, hunger strikes and sit-ins are held across the province, but our problem is not solved.

Currently, the sugar mills are purchasing sugarcane at a rate of Rs. 80 and 90 through their agents. They have stopped directly purchasing sugarcane from growers. The mills have stopped issuing the “Supply Indents” to the growers, they just issue simple chits, in which rates or weights are not written, he added.

Palh said the federal government is providing a subsidy of Rs. 20 billion to sugar mills, which is directly paid to them but they refuse to provide benefit to growers. “We demand the subsidy amount should be directly paid to sugarcane growers,” he added.

He said everyone knows the sugar mills in Sindh are mostly owned by the families of ruling political party, therefore, the provincial government is reluctant to provide any support or relief to the growers.

Talking about the problems of shortage of irrigation water at the tail end of the irrigation system in Sindh, Javed Junejo of Farmers Organisation Council said that small growers are unable to cultivate crops due to acute shortage of irrigation water in canals in Sindh. Even we are unable to receive water for drinking purposes, he added.

He recalled that the Supreme Court of Pakistan, in 2013, had ordered to cancel all water courses, which were getting water directly from the canals, but the Sindh government has not implemented that verdict.

The growers organizations had organized a three-day hunger strike outside Karachi Press Club for their demands and the speakers regretted that the provincial government has not taken any notice of their protests.

They expressed thanks to the civil society activists for extending their support to growers.