Sugarcane production in Fiji is declining due to the underutilization of sugarcane land, reports Fiji Times.
As per the records provided by the Fiji Sugar Corporation, around 30,306 hectares of cane land is vacant or underutilization.
The Ministry of Finance, Strategic Planning, National Development, and Statistics has stated that the conversation of Agriculture land for use of residential and commercial purposes is one of the major reasons for declining areas under cane cultivation.
The decrease in cane production is due to the unavailability of high-quality seeds cane and the slow uptake of new varieties by farmers, said the Ministry report.
The sugar industry was once the backbone of Fiji’s economy in the 1990s when it contributed 4% of the total GDP of the country.
Now the contribution of the sugarcane sector has been lowered to 1.1% to the nation’s GDP in 2021.
