1,000 farmers have been given a payment of $200 each through the Ministry of Agriculture’s ‘Cash for Cultivation Programme’ while the Ministry will register a further 3,000 farmers and begin making payments in about three weeks.
This has been confirmed by the Minister for Agriculture, Doctor Mahendra Reddy while responding to a question by Assistant Minister for i-Taukei Affairs Selai Adimaitoga to provide an update on the ‘Cash for Cultivation Programme’.
Under the programme, each farmer will get $200 if they cultivate a minimum of one acre of land for agricultural crop.
Dr. Reddy says 1,000 farmers received payments of $200 each in 2 tranches where the first payment of $75 was paid when the land was inspected while the remaining amount was paid after cultivating the plot.
He says they were able to secure $200,000 through the Agriculture and Adventist Development and Relief Agency for this programme.
The Minister has also thanked the Australian Government for providing about $800,000 so that they are able to give 3,000 farmers $200 each.
He says farmers do not need to go to the Agriculture Office to register and they will only need to call the Ministry where they will be visited by officers to get them registered.
Dr. Reddy says 825 farmers in the Central Division, 925 in the Western Division, 970 in the Northern Division and 280 in the Eastern Division will benefit from this scheme.
He adds the first payment of $75 will be made in about three weeks while the final payment will be made in about 6 weeks.
