Picture: Sereima  and Joeli Sereki's home garden at Yavusania Village, Nadi.

The Village Food Security Initiative 50/50 Fruit trees programme under the Ministry of Agriculture has been allocated $244,000 for the 2021-2022 Financial Year.

Assistant Minister for Agriculture, Hon. Viam Pillay while commending and responding to the 2021-2022 Budget, said the Ministry had emphasized that the nutritional security of all Fijian villages would be ensured and this was made possible through the Ministry’s provision of a set of 3x12 fruit tree seedlings to be provided alongside fruit trees to meet their nutritional requirements.

He said since the Fiji Day celebration in 2020, the Ministry introduced the fruit tree initiative whereby 50 villages were identified and supplied with 50 fruit seedlings to plant around their community.

“The success of this program enabled its continuation into the current financial year ensuring the provision of fruit tree seedlings to villagers and communities throughout Fiji. In June 2021, 50 fruit trees were planted in Taveuni, 25 in Navakawau Village and 25 in Somosomo Village,” Hon. Pillay said.

The Assistant Minister also informed Parliament that the on-going Home Gardening initiative of the Ministry had provided more than 34,000 individual seed packs to households in the four geographical divisions.

He said the success of the Ministry’s Home Gardening initiative had consequently improved urban and peri-urban home gardens.

As a result, he said, positive progress had been identified with some households in the Central division.

“For example, in Vatuwaqa, a resident Kitione Tagi, a hotel worker who lost his job said, that his vegetable seeds garden have been feeding his family during this unprecedented times.

“Mr Tagi was one of the few recipients of the first distribution of seeds from the Ministry when the pandemic started. He further stated that getting food for his family was a challenge and his home garden has enabled him to provide the necessary nutritious meals that his family needed during these trying times.

“Mr Tagi has since been assisted twice through the home gardening initiative,” explained the Assistant Minister.

Another recipient, Hon. Pillay described in Parliament, was Mr Lingam from Nadera who had shared his passion for tolling his quarter-acre residential lot when home gardening seeds were provided to him.

The Assistant Minister said Mr Lingam further expanded his home garden by creating a vertical hanging garden to provide sufficient space.

“He has progressed further by selling surplus harvest from his backyard garden.”

Another programme of the Ministry, the Organic Manure initiative has been allocated a budget of $190,000 with the objective of reducing Fiji’s consumption of chemical/synthetic fertilisers to address soil pollution, environmental pollution, biodiversity and safe foods.

He said the organic initiative would be used to develop three composting sites in Central, Northern and Western divisions.

“Proper sheds will be put up to ensure that compost is processed safely in a dry condition reducing chances of leaching.

“This work will expand compost production and sustain future supply of organic fertilisers by the Ministry while part of the budget will be used for in depth comparison studies on the impacts of organic fertilisers on crop/animal health and productivity, environmental health and on different soils and climate regimes,” he said.

Hon. Pillay said the Ministry was mindful of the need to ensure Fiji’s agriculture farming systems and methods were sustainable and conducive to maintaining the ecosystem, waterways and aquatic food sources.

The Assistant Minister congratulated the Minister of Economy and his team for a comprehensive and forward-looking Budget, which in his view augured well for Fiji’s future economic development.

-ENDS-

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