Fiji Rice Limited has been declared insolvent and is operating only with ongoing government grants and subsidies, a parliamentary committee has reported after a fact-finding visit to the Northern Division. Standing Committee on Economic Affairs chair Sakiusa Tubuna made the disclosure while presenting the committee’s consolidated review of Fiji Rice’s annual reports for 2018–2023 to Parliament, saying the visit confirmed the company is under “serious financial pressure.”
The committee’s assessment, delivered in Parliament this week, identifies ageing milling and drying infrastructure as a principal cause of quality problems and operational losses. Tubuna told MPs that the mills and dryers need urgent upgrades to improve rice quality, reduce post-harvest losses and make local production more competitive with imports. Committee members met Fiji Rice and Ministry of Agriculture officials and held discussions with rice farmers in Bua, Macuata and Cakaudrove during the Northern Division visit to gather on-the-ground perspectives.
The review also highlighted persistent gaps in data collection and information sharing between Fiji Rice and the Ministry of Agriculture. Tubuna said those gaps limit accurate production forecasting and hinder policy-making, recommending improved coordination and shared data systems so government and industry can plan more effectively. The committee’s findings point to both operational weaknesses within Fiji Rice and broader systemic issues across the rice sector.
The economic stakes are clear: Fiji imports roughly 52,000 metric tonnes of rice annually at a cost of about $63 million. By contrast, domestic production remains small — around 10,000 tonnes in 2022, meeting only about 20 percent of national demand. The committee emphasised that expanding local production is essential for strengthening food security and reducing the heavy fiscal burden of imports and ongoing subsidies to Fiji Rice.
During visits to farming communities, the committee observed large tracts of arable land that remain underutilised. A recurring barrier for farmers is difficulty securing formal leases through the iTaukei Land Trust Board; many rely on informal land arrangements that limit their ability to invest in longer-term production improvements. The committee recommended steps to improve formal land access and tenure security, together with targeted farmer training, to increase planted area and yields.
Tubuna said the committee will press for Government action on several fronts: refurbishing milling and drying plants, closing data and information gaps between agencies, facilitating land access through the iTaukei Land Trust Board, and ramping up extension and training services for growers. The report frames these measures as necessary not only to support Fiji Rice Limited but to lift national rice output and reduce the country’s vulnerability to costly imports.
The presentation to Parliament marks the latest development in scrutiny of Fiji’s strategic agricultural industries, and raises fresh questions about how the Government will balance immediate fiscal support for Fiji Rice with longer-term investments to make the sector commercially viable.
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