KARACHI (Web Desk) - The Sindh Abadgar Ittehad and Kisan Ittehad have given the government 10 days to begin sugarcane crushing and set its price, warning that farmers will march to Islamabad if their demands are not met.
At a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Wednesday, Kisan Ittehad President Khalid Hussain Bath and Sindh Abadgar Ittehad President Nawab Zubair Talpur demanded that the sugarcane price be fixed at Rs650 per maund and that sugar mill owners be ordered to start operations immediately.
Bath said the government had neither issued a notification fixing the sugarcane price nor announced a date for the start of crushing, causing concern among growers.
He alleged that imported wheat was substandard and that corruption had occurred in wheat procurement by the Trading Corporation of Pakistan.
Bath said 107 sugar mills in India had started crushing since October 1. He said diesel, fertiliser, pesticides and other agricultural costs had risen sharply over the past four years, while sugar mill owners wanted to set the sugarcane price at only Rs400 per maund, which he described as an injustice to farmers.
He warned that delays in sugarcane harvesting could affect wheat cultivation, while a late crushing season could reduce the weight of sugarcane and cause losses to growers.
Earlier, the two organisations set up a joint two-day protest camp outside the Karachi Press Club, where farmers continued their demonstration.
Farm leaders said they would announce their next course of action on Thursday evening, including plans for a large rally near the Sindh-Punjab border and a decision on marching to Islamabad if their demands were not accepted.