The Fiji Sugar Corporation has announced a final sugarcane payment to all sugar cane farmers at $9.59 per tonne, bringing the total sugarcane payment for 2016 to $82.00.
This is nearly a 7% increase over the total 2015 payment.
The final sugarcane payment will be paid out in two installments, with a $6.54 payment before Diwali on Tuesday, 17 October 2017 and a $3.05 payment to be paid out in January of next year prior to the start of the 2018 school year.
The final sugarcane payment of $9.59 is composed of a $0.44 wash‑up payment and a $9.15 top‑up from Government in recognition of the ongoing difficulties faced by sugarcane farmers due to the massive damage caused by Cyclone Winston.
Sugarcane production dropped to an all‑time low in 2016 of 1,387,243 tonnes due to the widespread devastation caused by Cyclone Winston.
As a result, sugar production also dropped to 139,501 tonnes due to low and poor quality sugarcane supply.
In a statement, Prime Minister and Minister for Sugar Voreqe Bainimarama said the top‑up to the final sugarcane payment was part of a larger programme of assistance and reform to expand the critical role of the sugar cane industry in growing the Fijian economy.
He said around 200,000 Fijians rely on the health of our sugar cane industry – it is a critical source of income and way of life in many regions across our nation.
Bainimarama said we must ensure that assistance to sugarcane farmers are provided in a tangible and sustainable manner with the view to reducing their cost of production to not only give them bigger profit margins but to also help increase their production.
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