Sugar cane growers in Fiji have been grossly short-changed by the government according to the leader of Fiji's opposition National Federation Party.
Sugar cane trucks in Fiji's western division. Photo: RNZ / Alex Perrottet
Farmers received their final payment for the 2015 season on Friday, which came in at 71-Fijian-dollars-and-86 cents per tonne -- about 34 US dollars.
Biman Prasad says this means most cane farmers will receive much less than a worker on the minimum hourly wage.
Mr Prasad says the government and the Sugar Corporation are fooling people into thinking farmers have received much more by including two special payments in their figures.
A villager in the cane fields near Lautoka, Fiji Photo: RNZI / Sally Round
He says farmers are actually getting paid far less than they got in the 2014 season.
"One of the things that we have always advocated is that the government should ensure a minimum guaranteed price so that there is enough incentive to remain on their farms. So in that respect this cane payment and a total price of F$71.86 (US$34.94) is actually short-changing the farmers and will send the wrong signal to the sugar industry," said Biman Prasad.
