LARKANA: Despite increase in prices of essential commodities and devaluation of rupee against American Dollar, the rice growers have not been compensated and they are forced to get same rates for their fresh paddy crop which they were given last year.
In this connection Syed Siraj Rashdi, leader of Sindh Chamber of Agriculture, Larkana District, growers including Hanif Kertyo, Ghulam Sarwar Mangnejo, Ali Muhammad Abro and others told this Scribe on Wednesday that irrigation water was supplied to Sindh 45 days late this year due to which 50% rice crop could not be sown hence 50% rice production will also be less this year.
They said dollar has gone high and so are the rates of diesel and petrol but we are being offered rates of last year between Rs 800 to 900 per 40 kg for wet paddy and Rs 1000 to 1100 for dry 40 kg which is not only unjust but we thing the rice millers and traders are economically killing us. They said 60 to 70 maunds of paddy is yielded per acre and price of this produce comes to Rs 60,000 to 70,000. They said if expenditure over sowing paddy saplings is calculated which include fertilizer and urea, seed etc then we have saving of paddy straws only out of which three parts are taken away by the landlords and one part is given to the farmers. They said that if this state of affairs continued then peasants and their families will soon be facing similar situation which is being seen in drought-hit areas of Tharparkar and Kacho.
They said that businessmen purchase paddy at cheaper rates, sell rice on higher rates and become millionaires overnight but they don’t want to give benefit to the tillers who produce it by doing day and night labour. They said government is also increasing rice rates to benefit the traders but it has always ignored poor peasants since years despite tall claims of supporting us. They demanded fixation of rates between Rs: 1300 to 1500 per 40 kg otherwise they added they will be economically destroyed. They further alleged that 2 to 4 kgs are also deducted by rice millers per 40 kg which must also be stopped.