Sugarcane growers warn rising costs threaten industry profitability

Sugarcane growers have warned that rising harvesting costs and operational challenges are eating into their profits, with some saying the industry's long-term sustainability will remain under pressure unless the Government extends its fuel subsidy beyond August and tackles other longstanding issues.

Lomawai sector farmer Asab Hussain Shah said growers wanted to harvest their cane but were struggling to absorb escalating costs.

"We want to harvest our cane, not leave it standing in the fields. We are willing to harvest, but there are several issues that need to be addressed," Mr Shah said.

He said growers were paying cane cutters $35 a tonne, lorry operators $30 a tonne and sardars $2 a tonne, while also meeting the costs of food, equipment and transport.

Mr Shah urged the Sugar Industry Special Committee to extend the $2-a-litre fuel subsidy until the end of the crushing season, arguing that manual harvesting gangs did not benefit from the subsidy to the same extent as mechanical harvesters.

"Mechanical harvesters can harvest thousands of tonnes of cane, while manual harvesting gangs may harvest only around 100 tonnes. This means manual harvesting operations do not benefit from the subsidy to the same extent as mechanical harvesters," he said.

He also called for priority unloading of Sigatoka lorries at Lautoka Mill, a review of funding for cane access roads, and action to address crop damage caused by stray horses and wild pigs.

"Farmers and lorry operators located closer to the mill are able to make two or even three trips a day, whereas those of us from Sigatoka can usually make only one trip a day, or sometimes one trip every two days," he said.

Mr Shah said crop damage caused by horses and wild pigs in the Lomawai sector had become worse than the destruction caused by Cyclone Winston.

Lautoka Cane Producers Association chairman and Sugar Cane Growers Council board member Bala Das said growers and manual harvesting gangs were bearing the brunt of the industry's challenges.

"The problem is the manual harvesters and the cane growers. In the sugar industry the stakeholders are not working together. We all should work together to come to a solution," Mr Das said.

Minister for Sugar Industry Tomasi Tunabuna said the current $5 million allocation for the fuel subsidy had been calculated to provide the $2-a-litre payment until August.

"I am not saying that the subsidy will definitely end in August, but the funding currently available has been allocated to provide the $2 per litre subsidy until August," Mr Tunabuna said.

Former finance minister Biman Prasad said the arrangement could be reviewed if renewed conflict in the Middle East pushed global fuel prices higher.

"The conflict has escalated again, and the United States has resumed strikes on Iran, which could result in fuel prices increasing further, and as the minister said, that is anti-locust, but that can be reviewed," Mr Prasad said.