We will not give up on sugar cane in Fiji - PM

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says that despite the odds that are stacked against us, we do not intend to give up on sugar cane in Fiji.

While speaking during the 48th Session of the International Sugar Organisation Council in London, Bainimarama says it is about continuing the program to modernise the industry, to embrace new technology to improve the yields and provide information that is needed to make better planning decisions.

He says it is about continuing Fiji's program of extracting as much sugar as possible from a single plant and value adding with new products and by-products.

The Prime Minister also says it is about building resilience to the threat posed to the industry by climate change and it is about constantly scanning the horizon for new markets and working as hard as we can as an industry to give those markets what they require.

Bainimarama says the challenge for our industry in Fiji has never been greater, as our preferential access to the European market draws to a close in 2017.

He says Fiji remains confident that we can meet that challenge as we continue to fast-track our capital projects to diversify our revenue streams.

Bainimarama says Fiji's crushing performance last year was again hit by a prolonged drought that started in March and the planting programme had to be aborted because of the lack of rainwater, and that we planted a mere 1,300 hectares against a planting target of 3,000 hectares.

According to Bainimarama as of 2nd November 2015, two of the four sugar mills completed their crushing and the other two mills should finish their crushing by the 30th of this month.

He says against the crop estimates of 2.1 million tonnes made in March, crop harvested has yielded 1.9 million tonnes and the sugar make was 197,000 tonnes with a tonnes of cane to tonnes of sugar of 8.34.

Bainimarama adds that these figures compare with cane production of 1.83 million tonnes and 226,000 tonnes of sugar with a tonnes of cane to tonnes of sugar of 8.0 in 2014.