Despite calls for an extension of crushing, the Rarawai Sugar Mill closed operations yesterday, officially ending the 2025 harvesting season.
Ba cane farmer Atish Kumar said growers were given their final quota for delivery before the mill closed late last night.
“Our final quota will be the last load we deliver to the mill,” said Mr Kumar.
“A lot of us really struggled last week trying to quickly cut our cane and take it to the mill.
“But even though we worked day and night, most of us were still not able to harvest all of our cane.”
Mr Kumar said some farmers in Rakiraki had not harvested a single cane.
“There is a number of cane farmers in Pakistan sector that has not harvested a single stick of cane.
“They are in the interior of Rakiraki and because of the rainy weather, they could not get the cane trucks into their farms.”
He added crushing at the Rarawai mill closed at around 4pm before reopening at 8pm for the final time.
“If they see there is not enough cane coming in, they will close the mill.”
The Sugar Cane Growers Council confirmed over 85,000 tonnes of stand over cane was not harvested this year.
Meanwhile, calls for growers to be compensated for their losses continue.
National Farmers Union general secretary Mahendra Chaudhry said farmers should be paid $35 for every tonne of cane left unharvested.
“The 2025 harvesting season had put extreme pressure on growers, leading to substantial financial losses as a result of milling failures and problems over which they had no control,” said Mr Chaudhry in a statement.
