National Farmers Union General Secretary Mahendra Chaudhry says they will be writing to the Prime Minister and Minister for Sugar Voreqe Bainimarama requesting that the guaranteed minimum price of $85 per tonne for cane be reverted from $70 as promised by the government while the Minister for Economy had said once Fiji’s larger economic recovery gets underway, the bottom-line of the cane growers will be among their priorities.
Chaudhry has labeled the reduction a gross breach of trust adding that the government has reneged on a promise it made to the farmers during the 2018 general election campaign to pay a guaranteed cane price of $85 a tonne for the next three years (2019-2021).
He says at $15 a tonne less, growers are being short changed by as much as $28 million based on the forecast of 1.8 million tonnes of cane for the 2020 season.
Chaudhry further says it is ironical that the Minister for Economy is prepared to pay $60 million to entice tourists to Fiji at the rate of $400 per visitor for the first 150,000, but deprives our own farmers of what they were promised.
Meanwhile, Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum had said on Friday that for two straight seasons they have paid cane growers $85 per tonne – a value far above the world market price adding that last season’s guaranteed price will be paid.
But Sayed-Khaiyum says in the final third season of the arrangement, they are reducing the guaranteed price for cane from $85 to $70 adding all other support to cane growers will continue.
$33 million was utilized to make up for the $85 guaranteed price for the 2018 sugarcane season.
