Peceli Naviticoko 
Fiji Rice Limited Chief Executive Mukesh Kumar
Rice farming is expanding beyond the traditional growing areas of Dreketi, Nasarawaqa and Korokadi, with production now spreading to other parts of Vanua Levu.
Fiji Rice Limited Chief Executive Mukesh Kumar says rice is now being grown as far as Savusavu, with more sugarcane farmers also turning to rice production and supplying their harvest to the company.
He says the Labasa area alone previously contributed about 40 percent of the company’s rice production from the cane belt, but the growing areas are now much more widespread.
“Now, it is widespread over Vanua Levu. So, we have rice-growing areas apart from Buva, Dreketi, Nasarawaqa. We have rice grown up to Nubu, even up to Savusavu.”
Kumar says the expansion shows a growing trend in rice cultivation across the North, with sugarcane farmers increasingly diversifying their farming activities.
He says the shift is helping expand the rice-growing base and strengthen supply to Fiji Rice Limited.
