Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has directed the agriculture department to take necessary measures to start forthcoming crushing season from October 10 and start meetings with growers and sugar millers to forge consensus for fixing the cane price.
He took this decision on Wednesday while presiding over a meeting of agriculture department in which he was given presentation on ADP and World Bank project of agriculture department. The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Siddique Memon, Additional Chief Secretary (Development) Aijaz Ali Khan, Secretary Agriculture Shahid Gulzar Shaikh, Principal Secretary to CM Alamuddin Bullo, Secretary Finance Sohail Rajput and others.
The secretary agriculture briefed the chief minister and said that last year sugarcane cultivation target was fixed over an area of 316,749 hectares while this year it was 313,437 hectares which had been achieved. “The production of the sugarcane would be around 17,500,000 tons and its yield would come 600 tones,” he said.
The chief minister directed the secretary agriculture to coordinate with the millers and ensure sugarcane crushing from October 10. “The delay in crushing causes financial loss to growers. This must be addressed by taking administrative measures,” he said and added that the other issue was fixation of the price.
He directed Secretary Agriculture Shahid Gulzar Shaikh to start consultative meetings with growers and millers to fix a mutually agreed sugarcane price. “I am sure that this year there would be no hue and cry on the crushing and price issue,” he said.
The secretary agriculture briefed the meeting on a Rs 6,236.778 million World Bank-assisted agriculture growth project and said it had been launched and would complete on June 30, 2019. “Out of the total cost of the project, Rs 1210.975 million are for date crops, Rs 140.775 million for onion, Rs 1812.250 million for chilli and Rs 15.5 million for paddy crops,” he said.
He said the objective of the project was to improve the productivity and market access of small and medium producers in important commodity value chain such as reduction in post harvest loses in dates, chillies and onions crops. “The project is aimed at increasing the farm income better socio-economic conditions of small farmers,” he said.
The project also includes the capacity building of researcher, extension workers, producers and farmers. It is also an important component of the project to improve quality of produce to make it more competitive in local and international market.
On this, the chief minister directed the agriculture department to ensure presence of extension field officers in the field. “They hardly go to guide the growers. This is unacceptable and I would not tolerate any kind of lethargy on their part,” he said categorically.
The chief minister also took serious notice of some complaints that uncertified seed was circulating in the market. “I would never tolerate this kind of negligence. It is your duty to ensure availability of certified seed in the market,” he directed the agriculture department.
The secretary told the meeting that an Agriculture Advisory Centre was being established for Rs 123 million at Tando Jam.
Giving presentation on another Rs 30,139.75 million World Bank-assisted Sindh Irrigated Agriculture Productivity Enhancement Project (SIAPEP), Mr Shahid Gulzar Shaikh said it was aimed at improving agriculture productivity among small and medium size farmers. “We would line 5,500 watercourses in which world bank funding would be 76 percent while the farmers would have to bear 24 percent cost. The lining of 5,500 watercourses would cost Rs 9,228 million,” he said, adding that that Rs 922.7 million had been earmarked for providing 1100 lasers for land leveling and deep ripping and Rs 1203.34 million for improved agriculture production technologies.
The chief minister directed the chief secretary to issue necessary instruction to stop water rotation all over the province. “When water is available why the irrigation department has started water rotation system. This is lack of management,” he observed.
The chief minister also urged the agriculture department to enhance its research capacity. “I want to see all our research centers working at their full capacity. This is time to introduce hybrid seeds to enhance the yield of the crops and research work on those seeds be stepped up which requires minimum water for growth,” he said.
The meeting decided to monitor the completion of world ban projects with dedication and honesty. The chief minister assigned the task to ACS (Development) Aijaz Ali Khan to monitor the project for its efficient completion. The chief minister also directed the chief secretary to evolve a mechanism to develop coordination between agriculture and irrigation departments. “When a crop is sown the water is not released and when water is released the land is not ready to crop. This gap of coordination needs to be filled,” he said.
