Picture: Minister for Agriculture Hon.Mahendra Reddy during the contract signing of Sabeto Farmer's  

Sixty farmers of Sabeto in Nadi today signed contracts with the Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) to plant and supply a quota of selected crops, and at the intervals the crops are required at to the AMA.

This is part of the ongoing efforts by the Ministry of Agriculture and AMA to ensure the agriculture sector becomes a billion dollar industry, in terms of foreign exchange.

While officiating at the contract signing, Minister for Agriculture Hon. Dr. Mahendra Reddy shared the need to expand the base of the agriculture sector to provide the impetus for sustained growth. 

In detailing the support which would be provided by the Ministry towards farmers who were interested in setting up large commercial farming ventures, Hon. Reddy said the necessary incentives for development would be provided through several ways.

“We will provide every farmer who has quarter acre land with planting material, seeds or cuttings at no cost to the farmers, and as part of this assistance agreement, in three years we want them to return the planting material so we can provide other farmers with the same and they would then multiply.

Relatively, the Ministry of Agriculture is working on establishing its own seed banks for open pollinated seeds for all crops at its Research Stations.

“We are also looking at establishing nurseries that will supply planting material to the farmers; some of the farmers are complaining that the seeds are very expensive; we are trying to keep the expenses away from the farmers,” said Hon. Reddy.

Additionally, farmers were also advised to treat farming as a business as commercializing the sector was the most effective way forward to realize its potential. 

"There can be no better investment than in the proposed, market-driven commercial agriculture venture, serving the dual purpose of Food Security and Economic Growth in the Agricultural Sector.

-Ends-

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