KARACHI - The rice exporters have said that the government should fix the support price of rice instead of paddy to resolve its dispute with the farmers. The rice growers associations of the country have already rejected the governments decision regarding the fixing of paddy price for the upcoming production, which is likely to arrive within two months in market. The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has fixed the support price of Irri 6 at Rs 600 per 40 kilograms, Basmati at Rs 1,000 per 40 kilograms and Super Basmati at Rs 1,250 per 40 kilograms whereas last year the government purchased paddy at Rs 700, Rs 1,250 and Rs 1,500 for Irri 6, Basmati and Super Basmati respectively. Muhammad Afzal, a rice exporter, while talking to The Nation, supporting the growers arguments, said that the support prices of Irri 6, Basmati and Super Basmati fixed by the ECC have been rejected by the growers on the plea that it does not meet their cost of production due to increase in the prices of inputs namely seeds, insecticides, fertilizers and other factors. He also demanded that the government should fix the paddy prices of Rs 800 for Irri 6, Rs 1250 for Basmati and Rs 1500 for Super Basmati and suggested to the government to fix the price of rice instead of paddy to resolve the issue as on the basis of the fixed prices of rice, the prices of paddy will be determined by the millers. Meanwhile, President Unisame Zulfikar Thaver, rejecting the price of paddy fixed by the government, said that the growers sell their paddy to the millers who then sell it to the processors who then export it themselves or sell it to the exporters and in between these stages there are investors who finance the growers, millers, processors and even the exporters who obtain finance from the banks also under export refinance. He also urged the government to review the cost of production by experts and determine the cost of paddy on the prices of the inputs to bring about fairness in the support system. Haji Munawwar Abbasi, member of Sindh Assembly and rice grower, criticised the govt over fixing the paddy price, which is less than the expectation of Sindh growers. He said that the rice growers also faced huge losses in terms of finance as TCP and PASSCO, despite the clear instructions issued by the Prime Minister and Sindh Chief Minister, did not purchase rice from the growers last year. He said that the government should review the decision of ECC and should fix the price of paddy at Rs1500 per 40 kg for the current season.