The Fiji Sugar Corporation has received a grant of $FJD2.1 million from the Indian government following the signing of a Grant Agreement at FSC’s head office in Lautoka today.
The grant was made possible through the close cooperation between the governments of Fiji and India.
This signing of the Grant Agreement follows the formal transfer of grant funding from the Government of India to Fiji.
The grant will be utilized for purchasing of farming equipment to fulfill the government’s objective of mechanizing the sugar industry.
Permanent Secretary for Sugar Yogesh Karan says they are grateful to the Government of India for its generous support and its contribution to the efforts in revitalizing Fiji’s sugar industry.
He says this grant will be invested back into the industry in areas such as cane planting and harvesting that is crucial for increasing cane yields and growth in sugarcane production.
He says as part of FSC’s strategic plan to revive the industry, FSC will be investing in an agricultural fleet to service cane grower needs of planting, cultivation, harvesting and haulage of cane.
FSC’s CEO Graham Clark says this is a crucial step towards mechanizing the sugar industry and a further example of continued support from the Government of Fiji.
The $2.1 million grant will be used to purchase five Tata Tipper Trucks, three sugar cane harvesters, five 4WD Mahindra tractors and forty farming implements.
The order for this equipment is in the process of being placed.
FSC says the items are expected to arrive in time to be used in this year’s planting and harvesting campaigns and will be distributed together with other FSC equipment, to all areas of the cane belt through the FSC sector structures.
Clark says farmers will be able to deploy the equipment at pre‑determined cost‑effective rates from FSC via a system that will be communicated to cane farmers before the start of the 2018 crushing season.
