The Sugar Ministry has set itself a target to harvest two million tonnes of cane in the coming years.
Sugar Ministry special projects permanent secretary Vinesh Kumar said the ministry had been struggling to achieve this level of production for a number of years.
“At present, we are still sitting at 1.5 million tonnes and we are really trying to work around it and increase it to 2 million tonnes,” Mr Kumar said.
“One of the reasons for these low cane production levels is the land lease issues that farmers face.
“That is why we are here doing these consultations with the farmers and the relevant Government ministries to talk to the farmers and find out the specific land-related issues that we can help address.
“We understand the challenges they are facing, and we hope to address them to ensure that production levels are improved.”
Mr Kumar said the taskforce was also urging farmers to utilise their land.
“We know that our farmers are aging, and the younger generations are moving out of the farms and overseas.
“And that is one of the reasons farmlands is not being used for its purpose.
“This is why we have introduced some incentives to draw in new farmers. In the meantime, we are urging farmers to utilise their land. If you have an agricultural, please use that land.”
