Ritika Pratap 
[Photo: FILE]
The government will be increasing the price paid to manual harvesters from three dollars to five dollars per tonne.
This is to acknowledge the contribution of people on the ground whose efforts are not well recognised.
The Special Committee on Sugar Industry met on Friday and discussed additional options to increase support for manual harvesters as an immediate measure to encourage harvesting.
To allay security concerns for cane farmers who wish to harvest but fear backlash, particularly regarding standing crops, the Committee consulted with the Ministry of Policing for Fiji Police to conduct frequent patrols in the cane belt to assure protection is afforded to farms.
The Committee will be visiting the Western Division to meet farmers, millers, and other stakeholders from Wednesday.
This will be an opportune time for stakeholders to relay concerns and make suggestions on how to make the sugar industry viable and sustainable in the future.
In relation to harvesting, the Committee says there was an assurance from Mahendra Chaudhry, General Secretary for the National Farmers Union, in a letter to the Prime Minister that “cane farmers are not on strike”.
This is confirmed by the crushing currently taking place in the Western and Northern Divisions.
