Crushing season begins today with the Labasa Mill the first to start.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sugar, Yogesh Karan says they have had a few challenges which have been the result of COVID-19 and the closure of borders.

Karan says while they are hopeful of a bumper crop this season, there may be a short supply of operators for the mechanical harvesters, with around 30 local drivers in training to manage the 78 harvesters that exist across the country.

“But as for the Memorandum of Agreement between the purchasers which is the cooperative or individual farmer, the suppliers in India had put in that these machines would be operated by them while it’s under warranty. The reason being because these are complex machines, very expensive, approximately about $330 000 to $360 000.”

Meanwhile, the Fiji Sugar Corporation has forecast revenue sales around $150 million with sales to the UK and Europe.

FSC also aims to crush around 200 000 tonnes of Sugar this crushing season.