Sugarcane Growers Fund chief executive officer Raj Sharma has expressed satisfaction with the recent budget allocation by the Government, describing it as a fair adjustment. The Government has allocated $200,000 for the Cane Growers Council elections and an additional $800,000 for the Council’s operations.
Sugarcane Growers Council chief executive officer Vimal Dutt echoed Sharma’s sentiments, stating, “We are happy with it.”
The Government has paid a record-high price of $91.28 per ton of sugarcane to farmers. In the budget address delivered last Friday, Minister for Finance Biman Prasad announced that the cane price for the 2023 season is around $102 per tonne, setting a new record.
The new budget also sees the Ministry of Sugar Industry and Multi-Ethnic Affairs receiving increased funding, totaling $76.1 million. Of this amount, $66 million is earmarked for farm developments, which include initiatives to boost cane production, subsidies for fertilizer and weedicide, cane cartage subsidies, upgrades to cane access roads, lease premium assistance, drainage, farm mechanization, subsidies for manual harvesting, and working capital support for the Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) to repay its loan from the EXIM Bank of India.
Minister Prasad emphasized the Government’s commitment to strengthening the Sugar Cane Growers Council and making it more democratic to better represent the farmers’ will and interests. He reiterated the allocation of $200,000 for the council elections and an additional $800,000 for its operations.
The Sugar Research Institute of Fiji has been allocated $1.1 million, and the Sugar Tribunal received $400,000. An additional $5.9 million budget includes $2.3 million allocated to promote language, culture, and arts, as well as small community projects.
For the construction of gas crematoriums in Labasa, Navua, Lautoka, and Ba, the Government has allocated $1.2 million in the budget.
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