A NATIONAL land use plan needs to be put together to ensure agriculture-based programs have land security.
During the Ministry of Sugar Industry 2021–2022 Annual Report presentation, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economic Affairs chairperson Sakiusa Tubuna said land tenure remained a major challenge for cane farmers.
“Currently we have 50,000 hectares in the industry but only 20,000 are being used,” he said.
“Where is the rest?
There needs to be a national land use plan.”
He said while agencies such as the iTaukei Land Trust Board (TLTB) were mandated to protect the interests of landowners, a broader national framework was needed to safeguard agricultural development.
“TLTB is doing theirs, but it is only for their interest. We need to have a national land use plan where all of the flat areas are to be used for agriculture.
“On the hilly lands, then we can have other land use plans like commercial uses and housing. This has been done in other countries. For agriculture we need to have those clear plans made.”
Permanent secretary for Sugar Industry Dr Andrew Tukana said the ministry was working with government agencies to identify economically viable land for sugarcane farming.
“Within the sugar portfolio, we have already started to survey these areas and working with the ministry to use drones,” he said.
“One of the things that we have started to see was the estimated cane production based on the area and looking to see in those parcels of land how much of it is used for cane production.”
