SUGAR Industry Tribunal Registrar Timothy Brown warned that production has dropped dramatically in recent decades.
Mr Brown was speaking at the sugar industry stakeholders’ workshop last Thursday which was held to discuss the review of the Master Award as plummeting crop yields and shrinking farmlands threaten the future of the nation’s sugarcane production.
“If you look at the sugar industry, we started in 1996 with four million tonnes of cane and this year we’re down to 1.1 million tonnes,” he said.
Mr Brown said urban development across key farming districts had steadily diminished arable land, raising urgent questions about long-term sustainability.
“We’ve lost cane in Sigatoka and in another 10 years’ time, we don’t know if we’ll get cane from Sigatoka or Nadi.
“All the land is going into other development, where are we going to get our cane from.”
Once the review does proceed, Mr Brown said the review would address critical forecast price calculations and percentage distribution formulas to ensure growers receive fair returns, while assessing ongoing support such as fertiliser subsidies but at present no adjustments have been finalised yet.
“So, we have to think, what do we need to do, that’s why we call the industry leaders together first so that we can get what we need and what’s the way forward.”
