Picture: Minister for Agriculture Hon. Dr. Mahendra Reddy handing over a portable rice mill to farmers of Votualevu.

The continued disregard for the environment through the use of unsustainable farming practices is cause for concern.

Farmers throughout Fiji are being urged to consider more eco-friendly options when expanding their respective farms and to implement sustainable farming practices and models to ensure our future generations also benefit from the same natural resources.

This was reiterated by the Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Environment Hon. Dr. Mahendra Reddy while addressing farmers of Votualevu, Nadi while handing over a portable rice mill to the farming cluster recently.

“One of the issues that have been bothering the Ministry is the lack of sustainable agriculture practices being practised at the farm level, we need to ensure that the agriculture practices undertaken by farmers are sustainable, meaning that it is not undertaken in a manner that is detrimental to the environment, the soil, and our groundwater – these activities can lead to erosion of your land boundaries,” he said.

“We see farmers planting right to the edge of their farms, right up till the riverbank, which is not allowed, that leads to riverbank erosion. We see farmers planting dalo in drains which are dug by public authorities, you can’t do that, you’re blocking water from draining out which in turn causes flooding and then farmers complain again.

“We also have witnessed farmers applying fertilizers and chemicals excessively which affects the environment, and this seeps into the ground, polluting the groundwater table and coupled with the excessive cutting down of trees,” he emphasized.

Minister Reddy highlighted that these activities all had an effect on our quality of life; “We cannot continue down this track, we need to be very conscious about our ecological balance, trees take time to grow and we need to look after them.”

“Also, there is no civic duty, there is a lot of rubbish strewn all over the place that pollutes the environment, our neighbourhoods, our roadside and our drains, we need to be responsible citizens of our nation and properly dispose of our rubbish.

“You may think that throwing the rubbish by the roadside won’t affect you but at the end of the day, in the medium term the environment will be polluted, and it’ll affect you, the quality of the air you breathe in. It can also contribute towards the quality of your health over time,” he stressed.

To put things in perspective, Hon. Reddy stated that with the ever-expanding agriculture sector and the increasing number of farmers, a scenario in which all these farmers practised unsustainable agriculture, would only result in negative impacts to the environment.

“At the moment we have got 83,000 farmers in the country, it is expanding and if all these farmers engage in unsustainable agriculture practices, engage in conduct which is detrimental to the environment, then we will not be able to guarantee a clean environment, or protect our natural resources for the future generations.

“Our forefathers protected the environment, protected the natural resources so that we can benefit from it. We need to ensure that we do the same, it is our moral responsibility.

“So I urge all farmers, you are the custodians of the environment in the rural areas, the landowners are the custodians of the natural resources in the rural areas, you must ensure that you undertake responsible agriculture practices which is sustainable in the long run and will be beneficial to the environment and natural resources for the benefit of our future generations,” he said.

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