FRL and Ministry Aims to Produce 50% of Own Rice; Import Bill to be Reduced

Fiji Rice Limited (FRL) and the Ministry of Agriculture are collaborating to increase the local rice production above 50 per cent.

FRL board chairperson, Raj Sharma, said the current data showed that the local production only catered for 17-18 per cent of the country’s consumption demand.

This meant Fiji only produced 10,000 tonnes of rice and Mr Sharma revealed that the Government’s rice import bill stood at $60 million as of last year.

Mr Sharma said it was imperative that every effort be made to reduce our rice import bill to minimal levels.

The chairperson told the Fiji Sun in Labasa yesterday, that the Ministry of Agriculture would work with FRL to relook at ways and enact a plan to boost our production above 50 per cent.

Mr Sharma said to meet this target, Fiji farmers had to produce and supply 30,000 tonnes of rice paddy.

“It is possible if the right resources and conditions are made available for our farmers,” he believed.

Rice price increase leads to increased supply

The increase in the price of rice paddy led to the boost in the uptake supply of rice from farmers.

Under the effective proposal submitted by the Permanent Secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Parmesh Chand, rice paddy prices increased significantly last December.

The price of grade A of rice paddy increased from $850 to $1000 per ton while grade B increased from $750 to $800, which is the highest to date.

Mr Chand confirmed that a budget proposal was submitted to ensure these prices were sustained in the 2024/2025 National Budget.

“We must ensure these prices roll-out this year so farmers are encouraged to produce more rice for their income boost and our local supply increase,” he said.

Mr Raj confirmed last year that Fiji Rice purchased 1000 tonnes of paddy from local farmers while this year, the intake would increase to 1350 tonnes.

“This signifies a 30 per cent increase in rice production due to price increase encouraging farmers to produce more rice,” he said.

The highest tonnage of paddy bought by FRL was 1685 tonnes.

Fiji Rice is aiming to achieve a target supply of 2000 tonnes of paddy next year.

In another development, the company is working on opening a new rice mill in Nailaga, Ba.

“We are waiting for the confirmation from the Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, for the go ahead for operations since it has been tested and commissioned to work,” he said.

Mr Raj said they were aware that Vanua Levu contributed a significant amount of rice production and development would be expanded as well.

“We also got some plans to look at another small compact mill to be developed somewhere in Labasa,” he added.

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