Fiji: We should encourage farmers to grow vegetables locally

Agriculture Permanent Secretary, Vinesh Kumar says Fiji imports $20 million worth of vegetables such as tomatoes, capsicum, cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower, and lettuce annually. He says protected cropping allows the production of crops under structures round the year which would otherwise not be grown in an open field. Kumar adds 90% of farmers in Fiji tend to grow their produce in an open field which affects the quality of produce during rainy seasons. He recommends farmers adopt protected cropping or plastic ...