Picture: Tadeo Bainivalu at his poultry shed.

His interest in Agriculture landed him four informative years at the Navuso Agriculture Technical School (NATI) in Navuso, Naitasiri.

A 2019 NATI graduate, Tadeo Bainivalu was given the opportunity to expand his horizon by becoming a commercial farmer with a land lease title package provided by the school.

“When we were asked of the type of farming we are going to engage in after we graduate, I chose poultry because my interest in this dated back when I was a child seeing my father raise meat birds,” he said.

Within two years, Tadeo is another classic example of perseverance, hard-work and practically putting to good use what he learnt at NATI and the package he received on the five-acres leased land in Naila, Bau in Tailevu.  

“When you are on your own farm that is where you practically do what you learn. It is different from when we were back in school where trial and error is acceptable,” he said.

“This is for one’s livelihood and going commercial takes dedication and time management, raising meat birds requires 6-7 weeks so I find that interesting.”

Tadeo started his poultry farm with 300 chicks donated by the school when he graduated from the Navuso Agriculture Technical School.

“Quite a number of my colleagues chose beef, piggery, for me because of the interest from childhood and the geographical location of my farm, I saw that raising meat birds was the better choice,” said Tadeo.

Tadeo shares his dreams and experiences with his family who supports and assist him on the farm.

“Rearing is the easy part including from the feeding to the hygiene maintenance of the shed but the challenging bit is when the birds become sick and record keeping is something we never miss.”

Often Tadeo also has the hard task of discarding sick birds to prevent the spread of disease to other birds.

His poultry farming business is onto the third phase of its breeding with the first batch sale raking in $2,300 and the second batch brought him $1,860.

“Along the way we come across areas that need attention from raising chicks to its sale and we learn along the way.”

In addition, the family recently started selling meat birds on Saturdays and have even booked a spot at the Nausori Market.

The impact of the education Tadeo received at NATI has opened his eyes and enabled him to re-invest on the land he has leased from the profit gained from the sale of his meat birds.  

“Apart from buying more chicks and feed, money received from the sale of the birds was spent on the fencing the five acres land, paid for digger works for land preparation on the other flatland that will be used soon for crops and vegetables, we also managed to buy a cow, and we are also planning on buying a van for selling and transporting birds from my next sale.”   

From the land he leased to start his poultry farm, he has also expanded, planting 2,000 dalo toppings and 1,000 cassava plants.

With the struggles he encountered in life, Tadeo said it was essential that money was used wisely on necessary things that would provide a good return in the future.

“Attending NATI gave me a lot of opportunities from learning the basics of livestock and crop to being given a lease title to start my farming with stock to start with, to what I am achieving now,” he said.

“All is needed is for me to continue with determination, confidence, discipline, being obedient and willing to sacrifice.”

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