The Fiji Sugar Corporation has announced a final sugar cane payment to all sugar cane farmers at $9.59 per tonne, bringing the total sugar cane payment for 2016 to $82.00, a nearly 7% increase over the total 2015 payment.
The final sugar cane payment will be paid out in two instalments, with a $6.54 payment before Diwali and a $3.05 payment to be paid out in January of next year prior to the commencement of the 2018 school year.
The final sugar cane payment of $9.59 is composed of a $0.44 wash-up payment and a $9.15 top-up from government in recognition of the ongoing difficulties faced by sugar cane farmers due to the massive damage caused by Cyclone Winston.
Prime Minister and Minister for Sugar Voreqe Bainimarama says the top-up to the final sugar cane payment was part of a larger programme of assistance and reform to expand the critical role of the sugar cane industry in growing the Fijian economy.
