Chaudhry: Minister misinformed on payouts

National Farmers Union (NFU) general secretary Mahendra Chaudhry has accused Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Sugar Industry Tomasi Tunabuna of being "grossly misinformed" on Government top-up payments to cane farmers.

The former Prime Minister disputed Mr Tunabuna’s claim that farmers had been paid well above the $85 per tonne guaranteed price in recent years.

Mr Chaudhry said no Government top-up was paid in 2023 or 2024 because world sugar prices were high, with farmers earning $105.08 in 2023 and $101.13 in 2024 through their own efforts.

"This was money earned by the farmers. Not a single cent came from the government," he said.

Mr Chaudhry said the real "sick man" of the industry was Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC), not the growers, pointing to a $200 million FSC debt write-off last year and a further $17.8 million grant in the 2026-27 Budget.

He said NFU had repeatedly raised FSC's $43.7 million loss in 2025 due to mismanagement, of which cane growers absorbed $30.6 million.

"No producer can be expected to produce goods at a loss," he said.

Responding earlier at a press conference in Suva, Mr Tunabuna maintained the $85 guaranteed price remained fair when combined with Government's $5 million fuel subsidy, $3 per tonne manual harvesting support and other farmer assistance programmes.

"If you do the arithmetic calculations... it could be well over $110," Mr Tunabuna said, urging farmers not to let "misinformation" delay harvesting.