Teams from the Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS), Sugar Research Institute of Fiji (SRIF) in
partnership with Australian Government-funded Climate and Oceans Support Program in the
Pacific (COSPPac) met with sugarcane farmers belonging to the Lautoka Mill District in Nadi.

The aim of the meeting was to present to the farmers the Fiji Sugarcane Climate Outlook bulletin, a collaborative climate outlook product by the Fiji Meteorological Service and the Fiji Sugar Research Institute of Fiji.

The Fiji Sugarcane Climate Outlook bulletin is issued four times in a year in line with the cycles of sugarcane farming in Fiji. It provides advanced warning on climate abnormalities as well as advisories to sugarcane farmers and other key sugar industry stakeholders.

Fiji Meteorological Service Acting Principal Scientific Officer- Climatology, Arieta Baleisolomone said the workshop was also an opportunity for the farmers to provide their feedback on the outlook product.

“We thank our participants for their feedback and recommendations which will help us to
improve in our service delivery and also identify ways to better communicate the information to the farmers and key stakeholders in the sugar industry,” Baleisolomone said.

Climate and Oceans Support Program in the Pacific’s Technical Lead, Simon McGree said one of the roles of COSPPac was to assist in providing weekly to seasonal climate predictions for Pacific Island countries.

“In the case of Fiji, we realised that short and long term projections will be useful for sugarcane production and during this workshop COSPPac is assisting FMS and SRIF deliver that sort of information to the sugar industry stakeholders,” McGree said