We are slowly but surely moving towards that month, which brings many sugarcane farmers and their workers together as cane harvesting gets underway.
It is indeed exciting times for them and the industry as a whole to witnesses another season of the sugar producing process, which has been a part and parcel of Fiji for more than a century now.
At this juncture, we pay tribute to our ancestors who came from India some 145 years ago to make this into a reality.
At the beginning of the year, we heard Sugar minister Charan Jeet Singh saying that the mills would be undergoing necessary and required maintenance works so that when the operation begins there is little, or no disruption come the crushing time.
It is the duty and responsibility of any responsible organisation to see that everything is put in place for the operation to continue unhindered.
Unfortunately, today we are left with only three mills as the fourth one was destroyed by Cyclone Winston in 2016.
The Rakiraki mill is no more. I saw a report which said that the number of active farmers had dropped from 300 to 125 in Rakiraki.
The younger generation prefers white collar jobs instead of working the farm.
Thereare plenty of opportunities in this sector thus the drop.
I wish everyone associated with the sugar industry the very best.
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