CANE farmers incurred a loss of $13.4 million or 56 per cent of this year's flood-related costs. A recent report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) revealed growers' incurred the most loss after the January flood.
The costs included cane output losses, non-cane and other farm losses and direct and indirect household losses.
The report stated that the impact of the flood on the sugar belt was not homogenous. "In total, only 15 per cent of 14,503 active sugarcane growers were affected by the floods, across 34 out of 39 sugar sectors," it stated.
Four sectors, Lautoka, Koronubu, Saweni and Qeleloa, had over 35 per cent of the farms affected by the floods and more than half the sectors had less than 10 per cent of the farms waterlogged or flooded. The majority of the sectors had only small proportions of affected farms.
"The industry is expected to see a loss in cane output by about 131,409 tonnes valued at about $8m, estimated using post devaluation cane price of $61.17 per tonne. The largest loss in cane output is expected in Rarawai and Lautoka mill areas, accounting for 86 per cent of the losses or $6.9m. This is not surprising since Rarawai and Lautoka mill areas had the largest number of flood affected areas," said the report.