The Ministry of Agriculture and Waterways is committed to assisting farmers with technical support and capacity building to ensure the sustainability of the breeding programmes on farms in Fiji.

This was highlighted by the Minister for Agriculture and Waterways, Hon. Vatimi Rayalu while delivering his ministerial statement in parliament last week.

Hon. Rayalu said one of the core roles of the Ministry of Agriculture and Waterways is to ensure the supply of quality breeding livestock to the farmers to improve the quality of genetics on their farms.

He said the Ministry is committed to breeding and distributing high-performing breeds of sheep, goats and cattle to farmers.

“Eight livestock research stations are located across Fiji, strategically rearing the national livestock nucleus. These stations include Koronivia Research Station, Sigatoka Research Station, Waidradra Bull Station, Dobuilevu Bull Station, Nawaicoba Sheep Station, Seaqaqa Sheep Station, Batiri Sheep Station, and Mua Sheep Station.”

“Various livestock species are selectively bred on research stations using biotechnology techniques like embryo transfer, artificial insemination, and controlled natural mating. Livestock progenies with superior genetic attributes are chosen through breeding programs and then sold to farmers to boost the genetics of their livestock,” said Hon. Rayalu.

He said the researchers assess and evaluate the breeds on the research stations for their adaptability to local conditions, resilience to the impacts of climate change and disease, and production levels, before releasing them to farms for breeding.

“The research stations adequately rear the national nucleus stock for different livestock breeds. They also execute the best animal welfare and good farm management practices to produce quality livestock progenies.”

Hon. Rayalu said good genetics and feeds are necessary for high-quality livestock products.

“Livestock rearing, breeding, nutrition, health and husbandry practices are professionally carried out by the Ministry to ensure quality livestock is produced and supplied to farms,” said Hon. Rayalu.

With the existing livestock breeding plans, he said the Ministry intends to sell the improved livestock breeds to farms as live animals and this programme is further supported through artificial insemination and controlled mating on those farms.

In the last financial year, the Ministry has supplied six Senepol, five Brown Swiss and three F1 Senepol crossed with local breeds of cattle to selected farms.

The Nawaicoba Research Station supplied sixty-eight improved breeds of sheep and the Seaqaqa Research Station supplied eighty-two to selected farms. The Sigatoka Research Station supplied 26 improved breeds of goats to selected farms for breeding.

“Under the livestock breeding programmes for the current financial year, the Ministry expects to sell 80 bulls of improved breeds to selected farms in Fiji.”

Hon. Rayalu also revealed that the Ministry has four Senepol bulls weighing over one tonne at the Sigatoka Research Station.

He said the Ministry’s breed improvement support programme will include artificial insemination services targeting beef and dairy farms in the current financial year.

“The Ministry intends to produce 2,000 semen straws from improved cattle breeds at the Sigatoka Research Station to inseminate cows at the selected farms in Fiji,” said Hon. Rayalu.

To support the pool of locally harvested semen, he mentioned the Ministry will also import 160 dairy genetics of Jersey, Friesian and Kiwi Cross and 160 beef of Herford genetics of frozen semen straws from New Zealand to further improve the genetics on our farms in Fiji.

For the sheep and goat sector, he said the Ministry expects to supply 400 breeding stock (70% male and 30% female) of sheep and 100 breeding stock (80% male and 20% female) of goats to potential farms in Fiji.

The current improved breeds that exist at the Research Stations are:

- Dairy cattle - Kiwi Cross, Brown Swiss and Crossbred (F1) between Brown Swiss and the Kiwi crossbreed

- Beef cattle - Senepol, Wagyu, Drought Master, F1 Cross, that is Senepol crossed with the local breed and the local cattle

- Sheep - Fiji Fantastic breed, Dorper breed, F1, Fiji Fantastic crossed with the Dorper and F2 (1 crossed with Dorper)  

- Goats - Anglo Nubian, imported Boer, F1, that is Anglo Nubian crossed with Boer, F2 (F1 crossed with Boer), Imported Anglo Nubian, Imported Saanen and Toggenburg, Toggenburg cross and the local indigenous goats

The key criteria that are set out by the Ministry for farms to receive improved breeds of livestock are:

- The farms need to be free from disease

- The farm needs to have the required number of female livestock for breeding

- The farm needs to have sufficient land for expansion and to cater to the increase in livestock numbers

Hon. Rayalu mentioned the Ministry is promoting commercial agriculture as one of its priorities under the Strategic Development Plan and packages of assistance to farmers for farm development have been made available online to support the livestock sector, for fencing, pasture improvement and infrastructure development on farms.

“The Ministry is supporting livestock breeding activities through capital programmes this financial year, with allocated funds of $1m for beef breeding, $400,000 for livestock rehabilitation in the cattle sector, $400,000 for sheep breeding and $215,000 for goat breeding programs.”

Hon. Rayalu said the need to improve the genetic makeup of livestock breeds in Fiji remains a top priority for the Ministry.

“With improved breeds, better husbandry management and disease control, we aim to increase the volume of local meat and milk production and reduce the import bill of these products.”

He said the Ministry will continue its breeding programs at the research stations, collaborate with partners on adaptive research, and improve coordination with stakeholders and farmers on the ground to grow Fiji’s livestock sector.

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