Sugar cane farmers now have an online portal to access services offered by the Sugar Cane Growers Fund.
While launching the new mysugarcanegrowers app in Lautoka, Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad said the fund had been an integral partner of the industry for many years.
“It is fitting to say that we need this partnership between the Sugar Cane Growers Fund, the Sugar Cane Growers Council and the Fiji Sugar Corporation and the Government because the sugar industry is somewhat at crossroad,” he said.
“Obviously we’ve had very difficult challenges and the state of the industry over the last several years is in a state where we need new thinking, innovation, consultation and dialogue and participation of the key stakeholders in the industry.
“This is what our government believes in and takes very seriously.
“Without the farmers and cane farming and without making sure that our farm level efficiency and the welfare of our farmers and the involvement of our farmers is critical to saving the industry.”
He said Government was pleased that the Sugar Cane Growers Fund had provided innovative leadership that provided support for thousands of cane growers.
“This app is quite efficient and provides a number of services that a lot of our farmers can access.
“I want to encourage all of the institutions within the sugar industry that we need to coordinate much better and we need to make sure that you are on the same page and coordinate all of your activities to ensure that we take the industry forward.
“The most important stakeholders in the industry are the farmers and it is our responsibility to ensure that the farmers and their welfare and their ability to undertake farming in an efficient way is well looked after.”
