RAKIRAKI farmer Hira Mani says he can accept costs associated with dry weather spells and floods because they are part and parcel of farm life.
What bothers farmers more is what he claims are “decisions made by people in airconditioned offices that affects us as canefarmers”.
“We used to have 16 farmers in my gang, we are now down to three,” the farmer from Malau Sector said.
“And the reason for people leaving is mainly due to cost.
“Production, harvesting and transport costs are so high compared to what we earn for our cane.
“I drive a taxi to make enough money to feed my family because we do not earn enough from cane.
“Nobody will want to invest in farming because of the amount of money you have to spend just to prepare land, plant, harvest and then transport cane to the mill.
“And if that is not bad enough, you then have to wait for 15 months after harvesting to receive payment for your cane.”
Mr Mani said farmers with Crown leases were also being subjected to a huge increase in land rent, with many re-thinking their future in the industry as a direct result of the hike.
“I used to pay $450 before but from this year I have to pay $800.
“When I complained to the Lands department about the increase because it is almost double, they said I have livestock and I can sell it to pay for my rent.
“We are struggling to survive and we don’t understand what they mean by that.
“I used to harvest more than 200 tonnes before but as the costs continued to go up, I lost hope and I have given up on cane farming because growers are being hit from all sides.”
Mr Mani said because canegrowers issues were not being taken seriously, there was a big lack of confidence in the industry.
“They took away the Penang mill, they didn’t help us after TC Winston, they put so many conditions on the cane planting grant and now they have increased our rent by almost double.
“In two to three years there will be no cane in Rakiraki if they are going to ignore what is happening to us.”
