Uncertainty looms large over sugar sector as mills suspend cane crushing.

Byline: Mohammad Hussain Khan

HYDERABAD -- Most sugar mill owners have suspended the crushing of sugar cane over the past 24 hours in Sindh, jeopardising the crushing season once again.

Uncertainty had already been looming large over the sugar cane sector as farmers kept claiming that they had been told by factory managements not to harvest the crop.

Growers like Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) general secretary Zahid Bhurgari claimed that half of the mills that had started crushing had stopped the process and Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) Sindh chapter chairman Dr Tara Chand also confirmed that '12 mills have closed operations, thus suspending sugar cane crushing'.

'Mills are there to crush sugar cane but when there is no cane, mills perforce stop crushing,' argued Dr Tara Chand while mentioning that Shah Murad, Sindh Abadgar, Tando Allahyar, Chambar, Mehran, Matiari, Mirpurkhas, Digri, Tharparkar, Al-Abbas and Ansari sugar mills had suspended crushing.

Reports said that a meeting of millers and sugar cane growers had been convened by Sindh cane commissioner Javed Sibghatullah Mahar to discuss the situation arising out of suspension of crushing.

Growers' leaders like Mehmood Nawaz Shah, who is vice president Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB), consider it an 'orchestrated campaign' to pressurise sugar cane growers and said that farmers had been repeatedly told by millers to stop harvesting the crop as they would crush only that crop that had arrived at their backyard. 'Even otherwise it looks unlawful because there is a procedure to it if a mill owner wants to suspend sugar cane crushing and this perhaps has not been followed,' he said.

In 2017-18 season, 20.611 million tonne sugar cane was produced against the target of 19m, eight per cent over the target. But in the last season (2018-19), 16.691m tonne was produced against the target of 18.752m, short by 11pc. The crop was 19pc short in terms of achievement in 2018-19 over the 2017-18 season.

Perpetual problems

Drop in sugar cane production last year was attributable to every year's bickering between growers and miller over payment of sugar cane rate and belated start of crushing season by sugar millers. 'Sugar cane producers are now losing interest in sugar cane crop because of these problems which look unending,' commented a grower.

This year crop sowing target was revised downward by the agriculture department in view of three years' mean production of sugar cane in Sindh. Against...