The Sugar Research Institute of Fiji says a new sugarcane variety to be introduced later this year will improve production.
Two new varieties will be released this year, after the Institute conducted more than a decade of tests to find new breeds to be produced alongside the dominant Mana variety.
A research officer, Prem Naidu says the first new variety, LF-94694, has an early to mid maturity which is convenient for farmers and has a high sugar content which will produce good tonnage.
"Farmers will benefit by planting these varieties because Fiji is moving towards a payment system where farmers will be paid on cane quality and one of the aspects of cane quality that the industry is looking at is to have improved sugar production. So this variety LN94694 will definitely improve the sugar production in its early-to-mid maturing compared to Mana."
Prem Naidu says the second new variety, LF-04448, has a higher fibre content which will eventually benefit farmers who use sugarcane fibre to generate electricity for their mills.
