June 1, 2015
Sugaronline | http://goo.gl/qgBM3W
Days after the financial state of the Fiji Sugar Corporation was revealed, the industry is now faced with another niggling issue - ageing farmers, according to the Fiji Times newspaper.
This as the sugar industry plans to increase cane production from two million tonnes to three million tonnes within the next two years.
"What we have discovered is the high number of ageing farmers in cane farms and this is because the younger generations have opted to go to urban centres," chairman of the Committee for Better Utilisation of Land (CBUL) and acting permanent secretary for Rural and Maritime Development and National Disaster Management Setareki Tale said.
"A lot of these young people are not into this sort of farming and we believe they expect things in urban centres to be provided to them while in the farms.
"As a result, the need for infrastructure developments to be made available to the farms in the country have been discussed in this meeting and also the inclusion of water and electricity.
"Education has also been cited as another way of moving the younger generation away from the farms.
"This might be a challenging development but it's only proper that we embark on it for the purpose of increasing sugar production and also for other agricultural commodities."
But there are other challenges facing canefarmers, which include the high cost of labour.
While many growers have taken up government grants over the years, farmers in Ellington, Naria and Nagana in Ra say the increasing cost of labour and transportation still makes cane farming unfeasible.
For the majority, rising production and labour costs have resulted in them seeking alternative sources of income.
"For us, there are a number of issues," said 70-year-old Nagana grower Ram Janak.
"Firstly, the road leading up to our farms is in a really bad state and then there is the labour issue.
"Cane cutters now want up to F$200 in good-will, this is on top of the F$20 per tonne we have to pay them for harvesting.
"And then we have to house and feed them and even look after their families' needs as well on top of all that, so it becomes very uneconomical when you take into account all the costs."
Janak said when the rail system was fully functional, cane farms thrived because of the low transportation costs.
"We went from paying up to F$5 a tonne to between F$10 to F$15 per tonne when we had to use lorries to transport our cane.
"This was a huge increase and added to the increased labour costs which drove many growers into other forms of farming."
Janak produces about 200 tonnes annually from his farm located on hills near Naria in Ra.
FSC executive chairman Abdul Khan on Thursday said in a statement that the company had remained steadfast in its strategy of continuous incremental improvements in its sugar manufacturing operations as it approached world best practice in terms of sugar extraction.
Khan added a major achievement for the company and the farmers was the record payment of sugar cane which, at F$88.49 per tonne of sugarcane, was the highest in the history of the industry.