Sugarcane Growers in Pakistan Demand Rs 700 a Maund and Crushing From 1 November

Farmer groups in Pakistan demanded on Sunday, 18 October 2026, that the government fix the sugarcane price at Rs 700 a maund (40 kg) and make sugar mills start crushing by 1 November. This is reported from a press event in Multan. No government page we checked shows a 2026-27 cane price or crushing date yet.

The demand came from Pakistan Kissan Ittehad, Kissan Bachao Tehreek and the All Pakistan Kissan Foundation, according to reports of the event. Their leaders warned of a nationwide protest if mills delay the season. We have not seen a written statement from the groups, so every figure from them on this page is a reported claim, not an official number. Sugarcane matters well beyond the farm gate. Pakistan grew 89.45 million tonnes in 2025-26, according to the Finance Division's Economic Survey, and the crushing date decides when growers get paid.

Farmer groups want Rs 700 a maund and mills running by 1 November

The reported demands are three: a sugarcane support price of Rs 700 per 40 kg, crushing to start by 1 November 2026, and fair weighing with prompt payment. The groups said tenant farmers are losing money as input costs rise, and that mills cut weight arbitrarily.

Khalid Mahmood Khokhar, central president of Pakistan Kissan Ittehad, was reported as saying that sugarcane area rose 21 per cent this season and that sugar output could be up to 30 per cent higher. Chaudhry Naseer Ahmad of Kissan Bachao Tehreek was reported as saying mills in Sindh had already missed their usual mid-October start. Syed Mahmood-ul-Haq Bukhari of the All Pakistan Kissan Foundation asked for a written cane policy with accurate weighing and quick payment.

None of these figures is on an official page. The 21 per cent rise in area is the groups' own estimate. The Punjab Agriculture Department's crop reporting page, which we read on 20 October, has no 2026-27 sugarcane estimate yet. Its latest Kharif book is for 2025-26.

No official 2026-27 cane price or crushing date has been published

As of 20 October 2026, we found no 2026-27 sugarcane price and no crushing start date on the federal food ministry's news page, in federal press releases from 15 to 19 October, or on the Punjab Agriculture Department's site. The Punjab Food Department site did not load for us.

The Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFSR) lists a Sugar Advisory Board meeting in mid-September 2026. That meeting reviewed sugar supply, home demand and stocks. It did not set a crushing date, as far as the ministry's own summary shows. The newest item on the MNFSR news page on 20 October was dated 16 October and was about wheat research.

Last season the Sugar Advisory Board set 15 November

For the 2025-26 season, the federal Sugar Advisory Board decided on 5 November 2025 that crushing would start across the country from 15 November 2025. The food minister said then that mills which failed to start on the set date would face strict action, and that growers' dues would be paid before crushing began.

So the farmer groups are asking for a start about two weeks earlier than last year. Their case is that a large crop is standing in the fields and that every week of delay costs them. Growers often want the cane cut early to free land for wheat, which Punjab's research institutes advise sowing from 1 November onward for most varieties. Late cane cutting pushes back wheat sowing in Punjab on the same land.

Mills have not spoken publicly on the date. Reports say some want to wait because they still hold unsold sugar, which we could not confirm. Prices have been falling: sugar was Rs 142.99 a kilo on average in the week to 8 October, and that sugar price was 22 per cent below a year earlier, on Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data. The government has also allowed a 200,000 tonne sugar export, which the State Bank's revised export instructions now cover.

The 2025-26 crop was the biggest gain among major crops

Sugarcane grew 6.2 per cent to 89.45 million tonnes in 2025-26, the fastest rise of the major crops, according to the Economic Survey. Its area rose 2.4 per cent to 1.22 million hectares. A larger 2026-27 crop would put more pressure on crushing capacity.

The 2025-26 figure grew from 84.24 million tonnes the year before, while cotton and maize fell, in the survey's table of Pakistan's crop output. If the groups' 21 per cent area claim holds, the 2026-27 crop would be well above that, but no official estimate exists yet to test it.

What sugarcane growers can do while the date is pending

Until a date and price are announced, growers should keep caring for the standing crop and keep written records of every delivery. The Punjab Agriculture Department's advice for 16 to 31 October asks for irrigation every 20 to 30 days on February-planted cane.

1. Keep irrigating February-planted cane every 20 to 30 days, as the department's advisory for 16 to 31 October says.
2. Finish any September planting soon, and use only varieties the Agriculture Department has approved.
3. When you deliver, ask for a written receipt for each load showing weight, date and the mill's name.
4. Note any weight cut written on the slip, so a complaint later has evidence.
5. Watch the food ministry's news page and your provincial cane commissioner for the official start date.

The department's advisory also gives the fertiliser dose for September-planted cane on medium soil: three and a half bags of urea, two and a half bags of DAP and two bags of SOP an acre, with phosphorus and potash at sowing. At early October urea and DAP prices, that first dose costs about Rs 90,400 an acre, by our arithmetic.

Common questions

What sugarcane price are farmers demanding in 2026?

Farmer groups demanded Rs 700 per 40 kg at a press event in Multan on 18 October 2026, according to reports. The government has not answered publicly.

When will the 2026-27 sugarcane crushing season start?

No date has been announced. Farmer groups want 1 November 2026. Last season started on 15 November 2025, set by the Sugar Advisory Board.

Has Punjab or Sindh fixed a sugarcane price for 2026-27?

Not on any official page we could read on 20 October 2026. The Punjab Food Department site did not load, so we could not check it directly.

Did sugarcane area really rise 21 per cent?

That is the farmer groups' claim. Punjab's crop reporting service has not published a 2026-27 sugarcane estimate, so it cannot be checked yet.

Who sets the crushing start date?

Last season the federal Sugar Advisory Board announced it after talks with the provinces and the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association. Provincial cane commissioners then monitor the mills.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

We read the MNFSR latest news page on 20 October 2026 (newest item 16 October, Sugar Advisory Board meeting in mid-September 2026), federal press releases numbered PR 214 to PR 309 from 15 to 19 October 2026 on pid.gov.pk, the government's announcement of the Sugar Advisory Board decision of 5 November 2025, the Punjab Agriculture Department's crop estimates page and its farm advisory for 16 to 31 October 2026. The demands and the 21 per cent claim come from reports of the 18 October event, not from a statement we read. We could not reach the Punjab Food Department or the Punjab Code site, so we could not check for a provincial cane price notification.