Crop Protection

Crop protection plays an important and vital role towards the growth of the sugar canes plants. It is very essential to protect the cane plants from the very beginning to be able to produce maximum and healthy harvest. These will benefit both the farmers and the sugar industry.

In order to help the farmers in protecting the crop, FSC has taken few steps to overcome issues such as “Disease Control”, “Fires” and “Natural Disaster “faced by the farmers.

DISEASE CONTROL
  • FSC, through the Sugar Research institute has a long history dating back to CSR days of monitoring and screening of sugarcane diseases in Fiji.
  • Major diseases of sugarcane in Fiji are:
    • Fiji leaf gall
    • Downy mildew
    • Ratoon stunting disease
FIRES
  • Cane burning is a contentious issue for the industry.
  • While our field staffs are at the forefront of anti-burning campaigns, every case of burning will have to be handled according to the Master Award.
NATURAL DISEASES
  • Our field staffs are always the first on the ground after natural disasters to survey damages to crops and infrastructure and are always involved in implementing rehabilitation works.
  • FSC field staff had the lead role in the $43 million drought rehabilitation program of 1997/98, which saw sugarcane production bounce back from 1.7 M tonnes in 1998 to 3.8 M tonnes in the next year.