A Bucalevu cane farmer in Labasa has called for Fiji’s sugar industry to have a single organisation representing growers, saying too much money goes towards these organisations while farmers struggle financially.
Mohammed Aiyum Khan said growers continued to contribute through levies but saw little practical benefit from the number of organisations operating within the sugar industry.
“There are too many organisations, but we don’t see enough benefits coming back to farmers,” he said.
Mr Khan said farmers faced increasing costs for harvesting, fertiliser, transport and other farm inputs while receiving limited assistance.
He said having one organisation to represent growers would reduce administrative costs and allow more funding to be directed towards those working on the land.
“The Government should have one organisation for growers and direct the rest of the money back to farmers.”
Mr Khan said additional funding could be used to help with replanting, road maintenance, harvesting and transporting cane to the mill.
He said direct assistance would have a greater impact than maintaining several organisations with overlapping roles.
He said many cane growers were finding it increasingly difficult to remain in the industry and urged the Government to review the current structure so more resources reached the farmers who produced the country’s sugar.
