Ministry of Agriculture launches rice rehabilitation program for affected farmers in the North
Villages assisted with planting materials and other necessary items
Ministry of Agriculture launches rice rehabilitation program for affected farmers in the North
Villages assisted with planting materials and other necessary items
Minister for Agriculture Dr Mahendra Reddy visited farmers in Koroqaci Settlement in Bua. [image: Fijian Govt.]
The Ministry of Agriculture has launched a rehabilitation program for rice farmers in the Northern Division that aims at elevating the rice industry after the Tropical Cyclone Yasa.
Minister for Agriculture Dr Mahendra Reddy says this program will include land preparation work for rice farming and will be active for the next 10 weeks.
December 25, 2020 8:50 am
Fiji Rice Limited is now awaiting final reports on damage sustained by the mill during Tropical Cyclone Yasa.
General Manager Ashrit Pratap says based on initial assessment, the mill has sustained around $200,000 worth of damage.
Pratap says the roofing, staff quarters, silo and elevators have been damaged due to the category five cyclone.
Article continues after advertisement
“Since the silo is down we have to manually feed the rice paddy’s to the mill but the milling is going on at a slow pace and we are not able to receive paddy’s from the farmers so we trying to fix asap so that the farmers can start selling their rice to us.”
December 24, 2020 12:45 pm
Fiji Rice Limited is looking at ways to assist its farmers affected by TC Yasa in Dreketi and Bua.
General Manager Ashrit Pratap says they have around 230 farmers who have all been affected.
Most rice fields were underwater during TC Yasa after the irrigation pond overflowed.
Article continues after advertisement
Pratap says they have yet to determine the extent of damage and the cost.
In the meantime, he is urging farmers to continue planting as they are still in the planting season.
Rice planted now will be ready for harvest in four months.
Pratap adds, they will also continue to subsidize machinery for the farmers.