Improved soil nutrient has been defined as one of the prerequisites to a successful, progressive sugar industry, says Sugar Minister Charan Jeath Singh.
He informed stakeholders in Lautoka that this was identified through ongoing diagnosis of the current performance of the sugar industry, identifying challenges and designing a way forward.
“And we cannot ignore this fact,” Mr Singh said.
“The concept of nutrient management itself is an area of focus in line with my aspirations about the industry. Soil pH is one of the important parameters that determine soil health.
“It plays a major role on nutrients’ availability and its relativity to crop growth.
“It affects the activities of most of the micro-organism. These micro-organisms are responsible for organic matter decomposition, bio-transformation and availability of nutrients in soil.”
About 50 stakeholders were told that fertiliser use efficiency or the crop response to fertiliser nutrients is very low in acid soils and that soil pH also affects the biochemical processes of sugar formation and the quality of sugar produced in sugar cane.
He urged growers and stakeholders to manage soil acidity well to achieve better results.
“The Government will continue to support the Sugar Research Institute of Fiji which is a mandated scientific arm of the sugar industry to execute relevant scientific research works.
“The institution serves as an adviser to the sugar industry on some better practices and way forward to improve crop production,” Mr Singh said.
