Where Engineering Meets Agriculture: Cane Growers Tell
cane harvester company has recently procured a new $260,000 worth cane harvester to add to their fleet
Sarava Navau Harvester Limited in Ba bought their third cane harvester with the assistance of the Fiji Development Bank.
Company president Vimlesh Lal said the company had to buy a third harvester after their second one had been written off due to technical faults.
“We are hopeful this new harvester will help get the operations up and running,” he said.
Mr Lal said the company was a partnership owned by six other individuals.
“I, along with other cane farmers realised we needed a mechanical harvester six years ago.
“That was when we decided to establish the company.
“We realised we needed an efficient method of harvesting amid the labour shortage and the rising cases of burnt cane.
Earnings
“A mechanical harvester seemed to be the right way to go,” he said.
Mr Lal said the company’s first mechanical harvester was one of the firsts in Ba as well.
The company harvests for Navau Gang 19 in Ba and Mataniwai Gang 46 in Tavua, he said.
“The harvesters only operate during the crushing season.
“We earn around $150,000 on average per annum.”
Mr Lal, also a cane farmer of the Navau Gang 19, also uses this harvester.
He said he expected to harvest 600 tonnes of cane from his 15 acre farm in Navau, Ba.
Mechanical operator assistant and a final year mechanical engineering student at the
University of the South Pacific, Varun Lal said the company was an integration of engineering and agriculture.
He said being able to learn the assembly and modification of sugarcane harvester was enlightening to him as a student.
“Surely some more young engineers will be
engaging in this field where engineering and agriculture fields are getting linked to each other to support efficient cane harvesting techniques with less expense for the farmer,” he said.
“A good opportunity to invest in such technology surely will boost income growth for a