Rice farmers in Fiji will be able to improve their production in the coming months.
The Ministry of Agriculture is training 25 of its staff in rice farms in Dreketi where farmers will then receive technical support on how to improve seed production and cultivation practices.
Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Officer, Kalisito Biaukula said farmers will also receive training on how to protect their crops from insects.
He said this will increase the rice production which will help reduce the imports.
Biaukula said currently farmers are producing rice at an average of 3 tonnes per hectare, however, they want to increase this to more than 5 tonnes per hectare.
He said this will also increase the chances of employment.
The training is also conducted by Dr Shahida Parul from Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, according to the Ministry, the country produced 6,282 tonnes of rice last year and over 30,000 tonnes were imported at the cost of about $40 million.
