One of the difficulties in the agriculture sector is linking production to the market where production is driven by demand rather then producing for the sake of producing.
This was highlighted in Parliament by the Minister for Agriculture Inia Seruiratu when asked by Opposition member Jiosefa Dulakiverata on how the Ministry is monitoring the price of dalo and other root crops around Fiji so that there is a fair return to farmers.
Seruiratu says the ministry monitors the prices of dalo and other root crops on a weekly basis and disseminates the information to all the farmers, vendors and traders throughout the country.
He says every Thursday a team from the Agriculture Ministry go out to all the 12 markets in Fiji and look commodities and what is available in the market and the pricing as well.
The Minister says they still have limited supply.
Seruiratu says gave an example where FMF wants to make a lot of dalo chips and cassava chips but they cannot get the required supply.
Seruiratu says this is something that the Ministry is now fixing.
