Rice farmers will soon be covered under a special insurance scheme that will cover health, farm equipment and loss due to sudden adverse events.
The Fiji Rice Limited says this is in line with the efforts to revive the rice industry and ensure farmers are well protected.
Mills General Manager, Ashrit Pratap says this will be launched this Saturday on a one dollar weekly deduction from the farmers’ salary.
“Just like sugarcane farmers – we are also providing that insurance cover which is basic insurance cover to our rice farmers, this is in partnership with UNDP to Pacific Financial Inclusion Program and Fiji Care so we’re launching this on 19th May and basically all our farmers will be covered under this insurance scheme.”
Meanwhile, Fiji Rice is working on plans to venture into farming and further upgrade the mill to ensure smooth operations.
The farmers are currently planting six to seven varieties of rice which matures within three months for harvest.
