Growers decry deduction by Mill Owners in Paddy prices

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SUJAWAL
The growers of Sujawal districts who had cultivated paddy with high hopes despite acute shortage of water are now not getting the due prices of their paddy from the rice mill owners who are deducting the profit of grower and farmers by 25 to 30 percent.
It was learned by this correspondent here on Wednesday that the rice mill owners are making money during the season of paddy harvesting by illegally deducting the due share of small growers and farmers.
After consistently getting lower prices for sugarcane the growers of Sujawal started relying on the paddy crop as a major source of their earning but here too they are facing the same dilemma.
Paddy was cultivated on 20,0000 acres of land across the district with the hope to earn a substantial amount but all the hopes of growers shattered after mill owners continued with their malpractice this year as well.
A local grower Abdul Shakur Malah told this correspondent, that the cultivation of paddy crop started late in the tail-end areas of the district following scarcity of irrigation water, adding that huge investments were made by them to ensure timely harvesting of paddy and they had become successful in doing that but the ‘greed” of rice mill owners might cause massive financial loss to them.
Mohammad Bachal, a grower of the tail-end area, said that after paying the share of farmers and transport charges they get a very negligible amount for themselves. “We will stop selling paddy here in Sujawal if they don’t stop deduction”; he warned
When contacted MNA Ayaz Shah Shirazi said that people of the tail end areas were facing this issue for the past many years and warned that owners making illegal deductions would face legal action. He directed district commissioner Sujawal to take action against mill owners involved in the illegal practice.