Solomon Is. Serious About Agricultural Development

Agriculture Minister Assures Farmers Of Govt's Seriousness To Enhance Agricultural Development

Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Selwyn Riumana has assured participants of an Agriculture Development Workshop in Honiara of the national government's seriousness to enhance agricultural development in the country.

Speaking at the opening of a Plant Protection Workshop at the Kingdom Harvest Center today, Mr Riumana said Agriculture development is a priority area in the present CNURA Government policy.

As such the Minister said the protection and control of agricultural products from pest and diseases was of great importance.

He said the project was a testimony of collaboration between the national government and non government organizations for the betterment of farmers and also the rural population in the Country.

The workshop was funded by the Australian Government under Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and was implemented by the Secretariat for the Pacific Community (SPC) in collaboration with an Australian organization TerraCircle (TC).

The workshop aims to strengthen the plant protection capabilities of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock and NGO's including the Kastom Gaden Association (KGA) and Vois blong Mere Solomon (VBMS).

The workshop is facilitated by a Tongan expert Mrs Luceane Taufa who will share her experience and expertise with the agriculture staff and farmers in the country.

The Minister said many farmers in the country are unfamiliar with the causes of the most common disorders of crops - thus limiting their ability to make informed choices as to best control measures.

"As a result the pests and diseases go uncontrolled and sometimes farmers apply pesticides without knowing if it is a disease or insect problem," he said.

He said the workshop would provide farmers as well as agricultural officers and other agriculture agents with the basic technical knowledge for recognizing the most likely causal agents and also to apply the best method or methods to control the problem.

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