People being urged to get into farming

People are being urged to get into farming as there is a shortage of supply of fruit and vegetables that are exported to other countries by Fiji.

Ministry of Agriculture’s Chief Economist, Pauliasi Tuilau said our export demand is high for dalo, cassava, ginger, papaya, kava, eggplant, yams and breadfruit in New Zealand, Australia and USA despite strong competition from Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia.

Tuilau said 70 percent of the produce is exported to New Zealand, 20 percent to Australia and 10 percent to USA.

He added that the issues raised by these countries are consistency of supply, quality and packaging.

Tuilau said the government has allocated $4m to the Ministry of Agriculture for different programs through which they can assist people.

Meanwhile Ben’s Trading Ltd which exports dalo, cassava, kava and breadfruit to New Zealand, Australia and USA said the shortage of supply from farmers, freight cost and requirements by the importing country are the major challenges faced by the company.

Director Maria Moi added that they upgraded their packing house after a system put in place for all exporters to have a certified packing house which cost them $2 million.

She said they invested some funds and the rest of the funding came from the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Moi said they started the business in Navua in 2006 as a sole trader with one truck and six workers only.

She added that at that time they were only exporting dalo to New Zealand and now they employ more than 200 people.

Last year the company exported more than 440 containers of products. 

Around $100 million worth of agricultural products are exported annually while $165 million worth of agricultural products are imported.

There are over 80 Agribusiness exporters in Fiji.