Minister for Agriculture, Doctor Mahendra Reddy says copra remains the most traded coconut commodity in Fiji amongst rural and maritime communities.
Speaking at the closing of the 11th Wholenut Processing Training in Dreketi, Reddy said the coconut industry’s resilience has encouraged the government to continue to rehabilitate and develop the industry which supports an estimated 100,000 farmers who are dependent on it for livelihood.
He says 70 percent of coconut trees in Fiji are in the Northern division.
Reddy says Fiji has around 10 million coconut trees scattered around in an area of approximately 65,000 hectares of land.
The Minister says the government through the Ministry of Agriculture is fully committed to rehabilitating the coconut industry and part of this rehabilitation work is to promote utilisation of whole nuts in order to supplement their income.
Reddy added that this year the Ministry was allocated a budget of $750,000 under the Coconut Development Program for the establishment of 531 hectares of coconut plantation across the coconut growing areas in Fiji.
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