AT 72 years of age, Ram Pyara still ploughs his 10 acre sugarcane farm using bullocks.
He knows the land, the seasons and best time to plant just like he knows the back of his hand.
He believes in his canefarming ability just as much as he believes in the old Bedford trucks that cart cane from the steep hills of his farm in Naqana, Rakiraki.
He said the shutdown of the Penang sugar mill caused serious concerns for sugarcane growers on hilly terrain like him who used old Bedford trucks to transport their harvested crop.
“We like the Bedford trucks because they can go into our very steep and hilly farms, the new trucks can’t because they are too heavy and they can topple over,” he said.
Mr Pyara said the decision to stop dumping cane at the Penang mill site this year would have a big impact on Bedford truck owners and farmers in hilly areas.
“We don’t agree with the decision to close Penang but what can we do. At least last year we were able to dump cane at Penang mill site and FSC took it from there to Rarawai.
“This year, I don’t know what we are going to do because FSC said there is no more dumping of cane.
“Taking the Bedford trucks to Rarawai will cost us too much and the old trucks won’t be able to handle the distance and waiting time in Ba.”
The FSC had announced plans to cart cane from the Penang mill area to the Rarawai factory in Ba this season using larger trucks capable of hauling huge quantities of cane in an effort to reduce costs.
Last year cartage fees were in excess of $3.5 million with contractors being paid up to $30 per tonne.
Unfortunately, FSC’s initiative this year did not take into account the fact that a significant number of growers in Rakiraki farmed on hilly terrain where larger trucks were unable to go.
These growers primarily used Bedford trucks.
There are concerns that unless a solution was found, standover cane could become an issue for farms located in hilly areas.
Last year, Mr Pyara had 60 tonnes of standover cane, even with the dumping facility at Penang.
FSC chief operating officer Navin Chandra said the miller was aware of the issue and was working on a solution.
“The most pleasing part is the solution to this concern actually has come from the growers from hilly areas which demonstrates a collaborative environment between FSC and our growers,” he said.
“More details on the solution will be finalised by end of this week but we are very confident that we have a very solid plan on hand.”
Because of the shutdown of the Penang sugar mill, the FSC is transporting cane from the Penang mill area to Rarawai at a cost of up to $30 per tonne.
Last year the FSC paid out about $3.5m to contractors who transported the Penang-Rarawai cane transfer.