Is it permissible to pay the Zakat on cash funds due from an agricultural partnership at a rate equivalent to the Zakat on crops, given that the partner sells the produce and delivers the money in cash?

If a person works on renting land for cultivation and tending to it until it bears fruit, and the crop is then sold and the profit is divided, this is a valid Mudarabah (profit-sharing) contract. Zakat is due on the crop before it is sold. If it is sold and the profit is calculated for each partner, then Zakat is calculated for each of them according to their share. If the crop is sold before Zakat is extracted from it, the majority of scholars believe that it is not permissible to pay its value (in cash); rather, one must purchase the amount of Zakat due from the harvested crop and then give it to its rightful recipients.