ISLAMABAD : Nov 21,2022: A key meeting held here under the chairmanship of Finance minister Ishaq Dar, here Monday for considering a proposal to grant permission for export of surplus sugar brought more desperation to the growers as it deferred the key decision for another meeting to be held on Thursday.
The meeting doubted the stocks position and directed to the concerned cane commissioners and district management to confirm the stocks of sugar available with the miller and report it to the Finance ministry in next two days.
The industry is claiming to have 1.2 million tons of surplus sugar and wants permission to export at least one million tons out of it.
The growers, who were expecting some good outcome of Monday’s meeting so that the crushing season begins and the millers buy their sugarcane without any further delay , took the news of deferring the approval of sugar export with a concern.
“Why the government is using delaying tactics when the crushing has already delayed for a week”, questioned Rabia Sultan, a progressive grower from Southern Punjab and director of Farmers Association of Pakistan (FAP) in her reaction to the outcome of Monday’s meeting.
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The crushing season usually starts in Pakistan from November 15 . This schedule has already expired . Each day matters for the growers and any further delay in start of crushing season will bite them massively..
The millers too want to start crushing season, but they are staying away from it arguing that they cannot pay fixed sugarcane price to the growers when they were already having surplus stocks . The industry puts the same arguments in Monday’s meeting and demanded of the government to allow export of surplus stocks and help the industry to have working capital to make timely payments to the growers .
The Punjab government has notified Rs 300 price for per 40 kg sugarcane and set a deadline of November 26 to begin crushing season .
The millers have linked commissioning of the crushing season 2022-23 to export of one million tons of sugar .
Its obvious that the millers will not go for crushing season without getting permission to export their surplus stocks and if this confusion prevails for more time it will hurt the growers the most .
Sugarcane is Pakistan’s important cash crop and it brings around Rs 600 billion to the growers every year.
But federal minister for Food Security , Tariq Bashir Cheema , wants to protect the interest of the growers without providing an environment of win-win situation to the millers. Tariq Bashir Cheema ‘s comments at a standing committee after the meeting with the industry representatives are enough to give a message to the millers that he will oppose export of surplus sugar no matter how much it bites to the growers. Mr Cheema in his comments given at the meeting termed sugar industry as a mafia, which in his views , had come in Monday’s meeting to grab permission of export of surplus sugar.
Mr Cheema probably does not know he can not protect the growers if industry does not start crushing season . He should also understand that denial a permission for export of demanded quantity of one million tons of sugar will have devastating impact on agro economy . Its first and foremost impact will be on the growers who will not be having any alternate channel to sell their cane crop and subsequently they will lose Rs 600 billion in just one year . Delay in crushing will also hamper the growers’ efforts to chop off sugarcane crop and prepare the fields to sow wheat crop. It will prolong Pakistan’s wheat crisis and add to Pakistan dependency on import to meet domestic demand.
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