Farmers of Baulevu, Naitasiri have been urged to use available Government development assistance programs to enhance local agricultural production.

Minister for Agriculture Hon. Dr. Mahendra Reddy informed farmers of the Ministry’s intent to actively promote commercial agriculture, emphasizing their role in advancing the sector by utilizing Government’s available resources, and to work collaboratively with the Ministry to implement initiatives.  

“I must commend you all for the effort that you tirelessly put into your farms, whether it be livestock or crops, you play an important role in feeding the nation and contributing to the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

“The Ministry is committed to boosting the agriculture sector to another level to increase agricultural production through commercial farming, we will provide you with a package in terms of farm roads, it may not be done in a week’s time or in a month but we want to do it by December,” said Minister Reddy.

“Another alternative for your farm roads is that we will bring our machines, drainage will be done along the farm roads and if there is gravel somewhere which affecting waterways from having free flow of water and thus contributes to flooding, we can clear the waterways and at the same time use that material for your farm road,” he said.

“Inform us and let us know, so in that area, we will use the gravel effectively and that way we can complete your farm roads quicker. We have done a lot of farm roads and drainage along this area and we also want to complete your in-field drainage within your farms to improve work efficiency,” he said.

Farmers were also advised to continuously liaise with Ministry officials in order to be kept abreast with the latest technologies and assistance.

“Part of the commercial agriculture model is the assistance we give to farmers for land clearing for agriculture, we will assist you with the necessary equipment but we need farmers to seek the assistance of our technical agricultural officials to assist you, and if you want to plough your land, we will also assist in your land preparation,” said Minister Reddy.

Meeting specific market demands was also reiterated to farmers as securing a market for their produce was important, with farmers being urged to work with the relevant authority.

“We will buy certain commodities at the farm gate, and that will be the work of the Agricultural Marketing Authority of Fiji (AMA),” he said.

“There is a list of commodities we want you to produce in relation to market demands and for this specific product, you don’t have to worry about going to the market, we will pick it up from here.”

In addition, Minister Reddy advised livestock farmers on the benefits of Juncao grass and encouraged that they take advantage of the Juncao technology; “For livestock farmers, we want you to plant Juncao grass for your pasture as it is high in protein and is drought resistant, we will deliver the planting material to your farms.

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