Sugar cane farmers will no longer have to worry about the high cost of fertiliser or cost of transportation as the government has announced an increased budget for the Ministry of Sugar.
The Ministry has been allocated $60 million for the 2017-2018 budget which is an increase of $32.5 million.
The Fiji Sugar Corporation will now own 300 new trucks that would be operated by FSC and this will reduce the cost for farmers.
FSC will also get 20 mechanical harvesters that will also reduce costs for farmers.
FSC’s Chief Operating Officer Naveen Chandra says that the major issues for farmers are getting labourers for harvesting and transporting cane to mills.
He adds that the government has planned to get new transport for the farmers that will also reduce the cost for farmers where the farmers will pay less compared to what they are paying when hiring trucks.
Chandra says the fertiliser subsidy will continue and the allocation for this initiative has been increased to $15.3 million and the government will now pay $25.59 from $14.09 per 50kg bag.
Chandra stresses that cane farmers will now pay only half the price to get the fertiliser.
He adds that the farmers will also no longer have to worry about the condition of the road as the upgrading works on cane access roads and installation of culverts will continue at the cost of $6 million.
He reiterated that none of the farmers in Rakiraki will be affected if their cane is transported to Rarawai Mill as the government has given $5.12million for this initiative.
$5 million has been allocated to get more people into cane farming while $4 million is allocated to make a special payment to the remaining 3,167 growers that were not covered under the government subsidy paid in the current financial year.
