A handbook for 300 leader sugarcane farmers designed to improve production and increase collaboration was launched in Nadi yesterday. The handbook, titled Establishing a Farmer Field School: A Handbook for Fiji's Sugar Industry, was launched as part of the EU funded Fairtrade Associations Capacity Building and Farm Advisory Services Support Project, which is being implemented by the Pacific Community (SPC). EU program manager Alejandro Matos Lopez said Farmer Field Schools established under the project had brought positive results to the Fijian sugar industry. "This is about improving the livelihoods and income of farmers in Fiji's sugarcane communities," he said. "The farmers handbook and the posters launched today are useful tools to guide the work of leader farmers, as well as the industry's field staff." SPC's Fairtrade project manager Judith van Eijnatten said the initiative would ensure farmers were able to better gauge improvements in their production.

Source: fijitimes