HYDERABAD, Feb 24: Sindh Chamber of Agriculture leader Mir Murad Ali Khan Talpur has said that due to the inordinate delay in harvesting of sugarcane, cultivation of wheat has been seriously affected and wheat production will be greatly reduced.

He was speaking at a meeting of the chamber here on Sunday.

He said an overwhelming majority of growers had not been able to cultivate wheat during the season and added that even the Kharif crop will be seriously affected.

He said poor growers of Sindh would suffer huge economic losses for no fault of theirs and demanded that the recovery of bank loans from the abadgars should be postponed for one year.

Expressing grave concern over the non-payment of government fixed rates of sugarcane to growers by sugar mills, Talpur demanded of the government to force sugar mills to pay the official rates of Rs63 per 40 kg to growers to end unrest among them.

He further demanded that sugar mills should be bound to clear the outstanding dues of growers without any delay.

The meeting congratulated the candidates who had emerged victorious in the elections and expressed the hope that the new government would take effective steps to eliminate poverty, unemployment and lawlessness in the country and resolve the problems of the farming community.

Those who attended the meeting included Mohammad Khan Sarejo, Haji Lakha Dino Kori, Dr Nazeer Haider Shah and others.

SAB: Sindh Abadgar Board President Abdul Majeed Nizamani has drawn attention of newly-elected members of the national and provincial assemblies to the importance of agriculture sector in the development of the national economy and expressed the hope that they will adopt effective measures to develop and promote this sector.

In a statement faxed to Dawn here on Sunday, he congratulated the administration on behalf of all office-bearers and members of the board for conducting the polls in a transparent manner to a larger extent.

He congratulated the successful candidates and expressed the hope that they will come up to the expectations of the nation.

He, however, reminded them that by and large the development of the country was dependent on the development of agriculture.

He called upon the lawmakers to pay special attention towards the equitable distribution of water from various systems among all shareholders.

He pointed out that the lower-riparians continued to suffer the shortage of water and added that this must be avoided at all cost to maintain harmonious relations among the federating units.

He said proper attention should be paid to the extension programme, research and provision of inputs, prices, taxation and marketing of agricultural produce.

He warned that neglect of this most important sector will prove harmful to the country and its managers.