LAHORE – Agri Forum Pakistan has opposed the import of Indian sugar and termed it wastage of valuable foreign exchange of the country and great injustice to the growers. This was stated by Forum Central Chairman Ibrahim Moughal at a meeting attended by representatives from sugarcane areas in different parts of Punjab. The meeting was called to review the production, availability and sugarcane prices in different areas.
It was claimed that the crop production was higher than last year’s and sugar output was expected to be around four million tonnes this year because the sugarcane was harvested on two million acres which would yield sugarcane output of about 60 million tonnes, thereby negating any need to import Indian sugar, particularly at this stage.
He criticised the import lobby and said that it should not mislead the people and the government of Pakistan in order to protect vested interests and refrain from such demands as it will serve the interest Indian farmers to the detriment of Pakistani farmers. He also demanded that sugarcane price be increased to Rs 200 per maund against the present price of Rs 125 per maund as the price is not meeting the production cost of the commodity, the farmers were looser and it would ultimate affect the production of sugarcane in the future.
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