ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) Monday urged the government to find a solution to the standoff between cane millers and farmers on sugarcane production issue.
PBIF President Mian Zahid Hussain, in a statement issued here, said that increased sugarcane production had resulted in larger surplus stocks which needed immediate attention of the federal and provincial governments.
He was of the view that the growing tensions between owners of the sugar mills and growers were likely to cause damages.
He said, millers wanted the federal government to increase export subsidy from Rs 10.70 to Rs 19 otherwise they would not be able to pay more than Rs 145 per 40 kg of sugarcane, whose price has been fixed at Rs 180 per 40 kg.
On the other hand, the growers want the Sindh government to announce a price of Rs 182 per 40 kg before the crushing and prolonged disagreement can delay crushing which would not only hit growers but also damage wheat and other Rabi crops that follow sugarcane crop.
Punjab has already notified the price of 40 kg of sugarcane at Rs 180 but the government of Sindh is yet to notify the prices, he added.
