Rahim Yar Khan  -  For the first time in the country’s history, the price of jaggery (gur) has astonishingly surpassed sugar prices by over Rs75 per kilogramme. Sugarcane farmers are increasingly opting to produce jaggery instead of selling their sugarcane to sugar mills. In the vicinity of tehsil Liaquatpur some 50-km from here, dozens of new jaggery production units have been established this year. According to reports, a significant quantity of jaggery is being smuggled to Afghanistan, leading to a sharp increase in its prices. Details reveal that in Rahim Yar Khan and adjacent districts, sugar is currently being sold at Rs125 per kilogramme, while high-quality jaggery is fetching up to Rs200 per kilogramme. It is feared that with the intensification of winter, jaggery prices may rise further. A farmer producing jaggery, Chaudhry Rashid Mahmood, stated that the price of jaggery mixed with dried fruits has exceeded Rs500 per kilogramme. He explained that large quantities of jaggery from Rahim Yar Khan are smuggled to Afghanistan, which is causing a daily increase in its prices. He further disclosed that the Liaquatpur jaggery market is the largest in Pakistan, attracting traders from across the country due to the unique flavor of the jaggery produced here. It has also been learned that the high demand for jaggery produced in Rahim Yar Khan has led some industrialists to consider setting up jaggery production factories in the area.