A landowning unit at Nasarawaqa in Bua is smiling all the way to the bank after the Fiji Sugar Corporation made a payout two years earlier than expected for planting sugar cane on their land.

Under FSC’s Joint Venture Initiative, the Mataqali Nukusolevu dedicated 360 acres of idle land for cane farming.

In doing so, they entered into a revenue sharing agreement with FSC with the first payout expected in 2023.

Assistant Minister for Sugar, George Vegnathan, says they are making the payout earlier than expected due to the fast increase in cane production from the mataqali.

“It is the effort of the government to see that our people benefit from whatever style of farming people venture into. And here, you can see the fruits of your labour, fruits of your commitment with FSC.”

The Nukusolevu Cooperative Limited harvest 2088 tonnes of cane last year and have forecast 2,146 tonnes for this year.

Under the Joint Venture Initiative FSC takes full responsibility for developing and cultivating the land.

Under the revenue sharing agreement, the mataqali receives 95 percent of the profits while FSC takes only five percent.

The Nukusolevu Cooperative Limited Member, Ovini Malavu, says when the cane farming started, there were initially a lot of doubts and second though about how the venture would work.

Malavu says now that they are seeing the fruits of their labour, its encouraged them to do a lot more.