Now’s Time To Start Planting, Urges Reddy
Agriculture minister, Mahendra Reddy, has urged Fijians to plant food in a bid to save money.
He emphasised the significance of food security, and said families should practise continued readiness in the face of the cyclone season.
“We are in the middle of our cyclone season,” he said.
The Agriculture ministry has rolled out its rehabilitation programme included distribution of vegetable seeds packs, kumala and bele cuttings, and day-old chicks and feed.
“Another rehabilitation prgramme I recently launched that targeted the revival of the rice industry in the North, is where we are partnering with Fiji Rice Limited to provide land preparatory work for rice farmers,” Mr Reddy said.
Rice farmers are requested to pay $15/hour for labour costs, with the balance covered by Fiji Rice Limited.
Mr Reddy acknowledged the sacrifices of his staff members who gave up their holidays and families to conduct damage assessments, following TC Yasa.
“However, we are not out of the woods yet,” he said.
“We must continue to be prepared. “It is unfortunate that we seem to be now receiving cyclones more often as opposed to before.
“Then again, we should not be surprised given the change in climate, which is the fight that has been taken on by our Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama, to the global arena on behalf of the Pacific region.
“A fight that was not of our doing, rather the fault of larger industrialised nations who continue to pollute and poison our environment.
“Now, more than ever, it is vital that we undertake some sort of agricultural activity if you have not done so already, to safeguard your food security, and ensure that you always have a fresh source of vegetables to take care of nutritional needs, and save money in the long run.”