Good news for sugar cane farmers as they will be receiving partial sugar cane payment before Diwali.

The Fiji Sugar Corporation has announced a final sugar cane payment to all sugar cane farmers at $9.59 per tonne.

This brings 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 on and a $3.05 payment to be paid out in January of next year prior to the commencement of the 2018 school year.

According to a statement by the Government, Sugar cane production dropped to an all-time low in 2016 of 1,387,243 tonnes due to the widespread devastation caused by Cyclone Winston.

As a result sugar production also dropped to 139,501 tonnes due to low and poor quality sugar cane supply.

In the 2017-2018 National Budget, the Fijian Government has also set aside an unprecedented $60 million towards the sugar cane industry to assist with sugar cane development, subsidise fertiliser and weedicide, maintain cane access roads, cover cartage costs, assist new farmers to enter the industry and boost the uptake of mechanisation in sugar cane farms.