ISLAMABAD - The sugarcane growers are in a position to get the price of their own choice from the millers against their produce for the first time in the history of the country and the sugarcane cost for the millers is expected to be around Rs 150 per 40 kilograms. According to market sources, the millers have started making offers to the growers for paying them Rs 120-130 per 40 kg sugarcane but that will go up, as the growers still want an increase in the price. The demand and the supply of sugarcane this year is neck to neck and the millers, who earlier were used to exploiting the farmers by offering them a lower price for their produce, have been defeated by the farmers and are being forced to pay the demanded price of the product to procure the basic ingredient of sugar (sugarcane) from the growers. The price of the sugarcane was also better last year, touching the limit of Rs 130 per 40 kilograms in many areas of the country. But this year, the price would go even higher and would at least touch Rs 150 per 40 kg while having a chance to go up to Rs 180. According to market sources and some technocrats in the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, all this happened due to the unity shown by the farmers. Earlier, the farmers showed unity in 2008 when they even burnt their sugarcane fields in the start of cultivation season. It is worth mentioning here that the sugarcane once grown can give production for two consecutive years and it does not need to be cultivated again after getting one crop. The growers who were victims of sugar millers in terms of lesser and late payments for their produce burnt their fields in 2008, deciding not to take the second crop that was even not requiring them to invest again in terms of seeds. That decision of the farmers showed visible difference in the production figures of sugarcane in 2008 as compared with 2007. The sugarcane production was more than six million tonnes in 2007 but it fell down to five million tonnes in 2008 that also forced the millers to pay better price of the product to the growers. The growers did not increase the cultivation area even after that and this year the sugarcane production is again not going to cross five million tonnes. The price of the produce is expected to increase further as the millers and the government had a carry forward stock of 1.1 million tonnes of sugar that has now almost been consumed along with the added production of 2008-2009. At the same time, an official of the ministry said although it was a good thing that the growers would get the better price of their produce, yet it would also affect the price of sugar for the consumers.