Fiji Rice Limited now has a new rice mill that will increase threefold the milling capacity of paddy.

Opening the new mill this afternoon, Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says the mill will allow Fiji Rice to take the entire paddy from farmers, unlike before.

With the new mill, the milling capacity has increased from five tonnes of paddy per day to 15 tonnes of paddy per day.

The new rice mill is worth approximately $0.5 million and will complement the existing mill.

Bainimarama says the purchase of the new mill is indeed timely as the old mill constantly required repairs, consequently affecting production.

While the old mill is still in operation, there is now significant reduction in downtime, which has fallen dramatically to 5%, compared with 65% in 2013.

The Prime Minister says the mill is proof of Fiji Rice’s continued commitment to serving the rice farmers here in the North and customers all over Fiji.