LAHORE, Oct 6: The federal government is determined to make sugar millers start crushing season by Nov 1 because delay can disturb the entire cropping pattern and hurt farmers.

This was stated by Federal Agriculture, Food and Livestock Minister Yar Muhammad Rind while talking to Dawn here on Monday.

The minister said that he had already informed the prime minister and the chief ministers of three provinces about his ministry’s position and the subsequent legal action against the sugar millers in case of default.

The warning came in the wake of a decision by the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA), in its annual general meeting held last Saturday, to delay crushing until surplus stocks were either consumed or purchased by the government.

The minister said: “The PSMA had told the government that it would have 132,000 tons of sugar at the start of the crushing season. The cabinet decided to purchase 100,000 tons of sugar at a cost of Rs600 million to wipe out surplus and create a buffer stock. Now, as the season drawing closer, the PSMA is coming up with new figures and trying to blackmail the government to win favours.

“The association is interested in the export of sugar, create an artificial shortage in the country so that it could unilaterally increase the price. The government is aware of ramifications of such a decision, and would not yield to their pressure.

“The government is committed to protecting farmers and will do so at any cost. The negotiations, held earlier with the PSMA representatives, are part of the official record and the millers would not be allowed to harm the credibility of the government and financial health of farmers,” the minister pledged.

The delay in crushing would not only affect sugarcane but the entire cropping cycle, Mr Rind said. “Farmers sow wheat in the fields after harvesting cane. Delay in clearing sugarcane crop will force farmers to go for late wheat sowing, thus taking toll on wheat production as well. All these apprehensions have been conveyed to the provincial and federal governments.”

Punjab PSMA president Javed Kiani claimed that the country had 450,000 tons of surplus sugar worth Rs8 billion.

“Under these circumstances, the millers cannot start the crushing season unless the stocks were consumed that may take another one-and-a-half month. This would delay the crushing season till mid-December. The surplus phenomenon is created by the government itself and it should deal with it at the policy level.

“The millers cannot stop crushing till last cane is lifted off the field. This naturally creates surplus. The government must come up with a policy for dealing with the surplus stocks, otherwise the crisis would be permanent.

“The PSMA is willing to contribute to the cost of export but sugar must be exported to stabilize the local market or the government should buy it. Till that time, it would be suicidal for the millers to start processing sugarcane,” Mr Kiani said.

Farmers, on the other hand, alleged that millers were delaying crushing only to increase their profit margin.

“By December, cane crop gets further matured and sucrose content (recovery rate in professional parlays) automatically increases,” secretary-general of the Kissan Board Pakistan said.

“Otherwise, there is hardly any huge surplus in the country and the industry is cash starved. The millers only issue cane purchase receipts (CPRs) during the season and pay the farmers well after the season is over, if they do at all.

“One cannot find any reason, under these circumstances, for the delay but blackmailing tactics to enhance profits of the industry,” he maintained.

A farmer from the central Punjab and a member of the Farmers Associates Pakistan said that growers were not in a position to afford delay in the crushing season. He said that the last wheat crop was much lower than expected which had hurt the growers financially.

“The current cotton crop is under heavy pest attack that would accentuate growers’ plight. If the crushing is delayed, it will have disastrous effects on farmers and agriculture. The choice before the government is very clear; yield to the pressure of the sugar industry or save farmers and the agriculture sector.”