The Serua Provincial Council aims to achieve better results for harvesting root crops in 2011.
Serua Provincial Administrator, Mr. Pauliasi Nene made the remarks during the Serua Provincial Council meeting this week in Galoa village.
He said that the report on harvesting of crops from the Agriculture Ministry clearly shows that the Namosi Province achieved five percent while Serua Province achieved zero percent.
“The provincial administration and the Agriculture Ministry is working very closely so that farmers in the Serua Province can achieve better results next year,” he said.
He said that it’s important that farmers plant more crops for food security and for commercial purposes at the same time.
“The provincial target is for Serua to contribute in the growth of the economy, which is also important to Government,” he said.
He says that farmers must concentrate on planting more food crops.
“There are many dalo exporters who wish to purchase our crops but the onus is on us to be on par with farmers in Taveuni and Vanua Levu, “ he said.
He said development within the province is slowly taking shape.
Mr Nene also expressed his gratitude to the Agriculture Ministry for reactivating the Ministry’s extension office in Naqesa early this year in the district of Nuku in Serua.
He said that the extension office would monitor programmes for farmers in Nuku.
“Dalo farmers in Nuku have set out their target to harvest 130 dalo plants by the end of this month,” he said.
The extension office of the Ministry of Agriculture is expected to further boost the output of root crops for export .