Farmers of Nabitu Settlement in Sigatoka will be able to do away with costs of transportation to mill their rice, and reduce dependency on imported rice subsequently save more, thanks to the provision of a portable rice mill.
Nabitu advisory councillor, Rajesh Singh said the donation is a welcomed development for vegetable farmers in the community who have also taken up rice farming.
“We used to grow rice here 20 years ago and have just recently re-grown it in Nabitu, this is a vegetable farming area, but now there are more farmers willing to grow rice after the assistance being brought to the area for rice farming as they want to grow it for their own consumption,” Singh said. “We are now able to mill our rice here after harvesting it.”
Handing over the machine Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Environment, Dr Mahendra Reddy also shared with farmers a new variety of rice that grows faster and demands less labor.
“We are promoting a rice variety that is in the 100-day range – plant it today, harvest it in just over three months, it is rain-fed rice, so you won’t have to irrigate and it is good for consuming as well,” he said.
The portable rice mill is part of the European Union-funded Pro-Resilient Fiji project which is implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) to support the Ministry of Agriculture’s wider aim in ensuring food and income security for Fijian farmers.
Photo: Ministry of Agriculture
