Sugar output set to miss 2026 target, Agriculture Minister reveals
Minister says delayed harvesting, slow crop recovery and standing cane contributed to lower-than-expected crushing figures.
Tuesday 03 November 2026 | 13:30
Updated 03 November 2026 | 15:10 FJT
Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) Labasa Mill will cease crushing on Friday.
Photo: Sampras Anand
Sugarcane crushing for the 2026 season is expected to fall short of its target, with around 1.1 million tonnes of cane crushed before all Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) mills close for the season.
Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Sugar Tomasi Tunabuna made the revelation to this masthead outside Parliament yesterday.
"The total, I believe, is around 1.1 million tonnes, but I don't have the exact (final) figures," he said.
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Mr Tunabuna said this season's targets would not be met because of several factors that contributed to reduced crushing.
He said unfavourable weather conditions had contributed to the decline.
"We had some delay in cane harvesting last season and the recovery was slow, so farmers could not harvest more cane this season," he said.
Mr Tunabuna said standing cane remained a major challenge for the sugar industry, further affecting hopes of a favourable season.
With the effects of El Niño expected to intensify in 2027, Mr Tunabuna said he expected cane production to decline as a result of the weather conditions.
Farmer sees drop in cane supply
Large-scale Labasa-based sugarcane farmer Emmanuel Jeet agreed that cane production had dropped this year.
Mr Jeet said he had noticed a decrease of 200 tonnes in his cane supply, from 1,600 tonnes in 2025 to 1,400 tonnes in 2026.
Although burnt cane remained a concern when supplying mills in Fiji, he opted to supply green cane to avoid deductions from his cane payments.
"I have never supplied FSC Labasa mill with burnt cane since I first started with farming, however, I understand some farmers may opt to supply burnt cane due to lack of manual labour and reduced timeframe," he said.
Mr Jeet said the sugar content in the cane supplied to FSC's Labasa mill was high this year, contributing to an improved tonnes cane-to-tonnes sugar (TCTS) ratio of 9.1:1.
Mr Tunabuna said his office had not received any request to extend the current crushing season to address the issue of standing cane.
"I have not received anything at my office yet, but farmers could have requested via a letter to FSC," he added.
