Picture: Farmer Jone Bakabaka Dansey briefing to the farmers on his orchard.

Fiji has the potential to reduce its $17m fresh fruits import bill by substituting and growing local fresh fruits.

Ministry of Agriculture Head of Agriculture Research, Mr Shalendra Prasad explained these imported fruits could be substituted with locally grown tropical fruits such as guava, mango, avocado, oranges, mandarins and other indigenous fruits.

“Fiji imports annually a wide range of fresh fruits that include grapes, oranges, apples, pears and kiwi fruit with a total value of $17 million and $3.8 million being processed fruits,” he said.

Mr Prasad made the comments during a field day on Guava and Dragon Fruit Orchards organised by the Taiwan Technical Mission (TTM) and farmers in Baulevu last week.

“We are here to witness and acknowledge the hard work and success of Mr Jone Bakabaka Dansey, who is commonly known in his community as Capt. John. He owns one of the upcoming and progressive fruit orchards in Fiji,” Mr Prasad said.

Mr Dansey’s interest in fruit orchard farming started two years ago with 370 dragon fruits and 135 guava (Green Pearl) plants. Today, his orchards now number 160 guava plants and 570 dragon fruits.

Mr Dansey thanked TTM and the Ministry of Agriculture for providing technical support which, he says has contributed to the success of his fruit orchards.

“I am targeting to have 1000 dragon fruits and 200 guava plants by end of 2022. Our market is New World Supermarket and our Facebook customers. But I am sorry to say that we cannot meet their demand. There is a huge demand and we cannot fulfil our customers,” he explained.

He said he should be supplying 750kg of guava weekly to New World.

One kilogram of guava costs $7.50 while dragon fruits cost $12.50 a kilo.

Under the Ministry of Agriculture’s Food Security, Agriculture Growth and Expansion Plan, which is aligned to the 2019 – 2023 Strategic Development Plan; establishing nurseries and orchards with commodities such as breadfruit, mango, banana, guava, dragonfruit and avocado is one of 16 initiatives designed to enhance commercial agriculture.

This initiative is focused on developing Fiji’s fruit industry to enhance local fruit consumption through the engagement of farmers.

-Ends-

• ← Go to all Press Releases