FIJI will need to harvest 3 million tonnes of sugar cane to be able to supply feedstock needed to produce sustainable aviation fuel.
Civil Aviation Minister Viliame Gavoka said this was one of the challenges they faced while implementing projects under the 2026-2031 Civil Aviation Master Plan.
“Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is challenging,” he said.
“We can make it in Fiji by using sugarcane as a feedstock, but then you will need to produce about three million tonnes of cane to produce the volume, the quantity of SAF that would make it economical and make us a producer of SAF in this part of the world.
“Those are some of the challenges that we have.”
In response, Lautoka Cane Producers Association president Bala Dass said producing a consistent 3 million tonnes of sugar cane each year was ambitious but possible with the right resources.
“Give the farmers what they need for that to happen,” said Mr Dass.
“And there has to be an improvement in all levels. FSC (Fiji Sugar Corporation) will need new high yielding and efficient mills, growers will need secured land tenure and the consistent work force to harvest that amount of cane.
“It is not impossible because at one point in time we used to produce more than 3 million to 4 million tonnes of cane.”
According to Government, between 2020 and 2024, annual sugar cane crushed had fallen from 1.73 million to 1.33 million tonnes.
