[File Photo]

The Fiji Sugar Corporation is planning to make changes to its cane planting grant program to focus on enhancing the productivity of larger, more efficient sugarcane growers.

Chief Executive Bhan Pratap Singh says this move comes after the previous grants aimed at smaller growers yielded limited results.

“The last cane planting grants that have been available to the industry, the planting grants were targeted mostly towards the smaller producing growers for them to increase their production. But we have seen no real outputs out of that. We now want to change that strategy in the next year and put the cane planting grant to productive growers.”

Singh says there is also a need for a broader discussion within the industry to develop solutions for these growers.

“Unproductive growers is a difficult thing, and it needs to be discussed at the industry level, and some strategies have to be put in place to think of what really needs to be done. They are growers, but they have other sources of income. They are not fully dependent on cane, and most growers keep cane contracts to maintain their leases. So there are various factors related to that.”

The FSC CEO also says they are also focusing on mechanization and a trial is underway to increase farm productivity and raise cane yields.