Australia Helps Taveuni farmers get to the Root of the Problem
14 September 2012
Taveuni, long known as the Garden Island of Fiji and home to more than 3,600 farmers has begun to experience the impact of declining soil fertility on their livelihoods.
Many of the farmers involved in the lucrative dalo export trade are now seeing a decline in yields and a reduction in the size of dalo harvested from their farms.
This soil fertility problem has the ability to impact on the long-term sustainability of the $15 million/year dalo industry on the Island.
Intensive mono-cropping of dalo and excessive application of fertiliser has resulted in destruction of soil structures and increased incidence of soil-borne diseases, which has seen a drastic increase in the rejection rates of Tausala dalo for export.
Rather than wait for things to get worse, stakeholders on the island have formed Tei-tei Taveuni, an association to advocate and promote improved farming techniques.
With the assistance of the Ministry of Primary Industries, Tei-tei Taveuni has been holding Soil Schools to help farmers to better understand and diagnose soil problems on their land.
This initiative has now received a significant boost through $490,000 funding assistance from the Australian Government.
In a collaborative effort between the Australian Aid Program, Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research and Australian Volunteers International, together with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Ministry of Primary Industries and Tei-tei Taveuni, a major research project has been commissioned to address the declining soil fertility and ensure long-term sustainability of agriculture production for farmers on the island.
At the official launch of the project at Mua Research Station on Thursday 13th September 2012, Acting Australian High Commissioner, Glen Miles said: “While there is a lot of literature and research globally on soil health, what this project will do is allow us to see what soil fertility treatments and applications work best in Taveuni for Taveuni farmers”.
The research and outcomes of the Soil Health Project in Taveuni could shape future farming practices on the island and across all of Fiji.
**ENDS**
Photo Caption: Acting Australian High Commissioner, Glenn Miles, commissioning one of the seven new mobile chippers that will be available to farmers to produce organic fertilizers.
For clarifications or further information contact: The Public Affairs Section, Australian High Commission, Suva. Tel: (679)3382211 – Ext 246 Fax: (679) 3382065