Minister for Sugar Charan Jeath Singh has described the trip to India of 18 Fijians as successful and a fruitful one.
While speaking in Parliament last week, he said the two weeks training for 14 canefarmers and four officials from the Sugar Cane Growers Council was sponsored by the Government of India.
The 14 farmers included four active female growers.
“The Fiji Sugar Corporation has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Institute of Kanpur to acquire the benefits from that training for the FSC mills and staff,” he said.
Mr Singh said upon receiving the approval from the Government of India, the Sugar Cane Growers Council management identified participants based on selection criteria approved by the council.
“The criteria included the need for a balanced gender, ethnic mix and need for representation of farmers across the cane producing areas.
He said the two-week training was tailor-made to fulfil the needs of the capacity and requirements of our farmers.
The participants visited various sites including research institutes, sugar factories, attended field trips and had direct interaction with successful farmers in India. They also visited their farms in the State of Uttar Pradesh.
“The objective of this program was to provide international exposure to our farmers.
“During their visit the participants were able to learn about the new improved cane varieties, effective crop management, diversification opportunities, practice of crop rotation and intercropping, pest and weed management practices, soil health, plant nutrition and farm mechanisation.
“In principle, the participants gained insight into enhanced activities, modern farm setup, fertilizer application, disease control, weed management and integrated approaches combining traditional knowledge with modern technologies in sustainable cane production.”
