The Ministry of Agriculture’s Plant Protection Division based out of Koronivia Research Station is continuing its Plant Health Clinic (PHC) training of Agriculture officers in order to assist them to identify damages caused by pests, diseases and lack of nutrients in plants.

Senior Research Officer Plant Protection, Ratu Toloi Vasuidreketi said the four-day PHC training in Vanua Levu would develop the skills of Agriculture officers and assist them in their service delivery to farmers.

“This workshop will help officers to identify and conduct in-depth analysis on plant pests and diseases that farmers face on their farms which includes the description of crop damage symptoms, diagnosing the symptoms to find the cause of the problem and provide suitable management practices to solve these problems,” he said.

“Agriculture officers from Research and Extension Division were trained through project presentations, group discussions and field demonstrations in the three day workshop, where they will then have an opportunity on the fourth day to meet with the farmers and identify plant Pest and Diseases which they will bring during the Plant Health Clinic at Seaqaqa Market,” Mr. Vasuidreketi said.

“Farmers will bring in their Pest and Disease crop samples from their farms and the participants who are now classified as ‘plant doctors’ will identify the symptoms, diagnose the cause of these symptoms and provide best management practices to the farmers on the final day,” he added. 

The Plant Health Clinic concept is a new innovation in the region, though it has been widely practiced in Africa and Asia and has proven to be very successful in providing practical answers to pest and diseased crop samples brought about by farmers to a common meeting place in a farming community.

The plant health clinic was introduced and taught in Fiji in 2016 under the Plant Protection section of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Research Division as part of a sub-regional Integrated Pest Management (IPM) project objective of, “strengthening integrated crop management research in the Pacific Island in support of sustainable intensification of high value crop production”, with financial support from the Australian Centre for International Agriculture (ACIAR).

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