HYDERABAD: Rejecting the idea of corporate farming, representatives of the Sindh Abadgar Ittehad (SAI) have called for fixing sugar cane rate at Rs600 per 40kg and commencing cane crushing immediately.

Speaking at a news conference at the local press club on Sunday, SAI president Nawab Zubair Talpur, Mohammad JavedRiar,AbdulRahimDars,Mohammad Anwar and others said the modern and corporate farming was being discussed those days to bring millions of acres under cultivation.

They said they didn`t accept that concept of farming.

Still, they said, the government was planning corporate farming and had initiated project in the Cholistan area of Punjab where vast lands were given to another country while machinery for it would be provided by China.

They said the sugar cane crushing season must begin from October as per law, but so far it had not started.

They said the sugar cane rate fixed by the government was inadequate when compared with per kilo cost of sugar. They demanded Rs600 per 40kg cane price and commencement of crushing from October.

They said the paddy price had dropped from Rs4,500 to Rs2,800 due to cartelisation by rice millers who were looting paddy growers. They urged the government to ensure payment of the price of old paddy crop to the growers.