Stakeholders talk potato woes
Major factors that contributed to the poor results in Fiji’s potato farms this year will be discussed between the Agriculture Department and farmers next month.
Senior Agriculture Officer Potatoes - Adriano Tabualevu says the two year trial period is over and they don’t want to repeat the same mistakes next year.
Some of the issues farmers faced were the prolonged wet weather, poor quality of seeds and some varieties that did not thrive well in the plantations.
Tabualevu says poor land preparation by some farmers was also a major contributing factor.
“For example the varieties that we will be looking at - from experience Ilam Hardy really thrives well in Ra, whereas the Ivory Crisp - the other variety thrives really well in Ba province whereas for Nadroga/Navosa red Rascal thrives really well and I think by the looks of it we will concentrate more on potential identified areas.”
The meeting will also discuss other potential markets for potatoes.
Report by : Ritila Pratap
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