Non-sugar export brought $121.3 million last year

With Fiji’s non-sugar agriculture export earnings raking in $121.3 million last year, farmers from four villages in Sigatoka are being urged to grow high-value crops with lucrative export markets to enable them to fully capitalize on current market signals.

While handing over nursery and planting materials to the villagers, Minister for Agriculture Doctor Mahendra Reddy says it is vital for farmers to identify relevant marketable crops to grow that are suitable to their local conditions.

Dr Reddy says Fiji’s growth and development is primarily because of agriculture.

He says cotton, copra and sugar were all dominant commodities at some point but now it is dalo, cassava, yaqona, ginger and turmeric.

Dr Reddy reminded the farmers that there is huge potential and the Government believes that they can also get involved in this export equation by planting kava and turmeric.