The Minister for Agriculture, Rural and Maritime Development and National Disaster Management, Hon. Inia Seruiratu is pleased with the local production of potato seeds in Nadarivatu.
Visiting the farmers of Naga village last Friday (19/06), Minister Seruiratu was able to witness the harvested potato seeds that were being planted during the off season period and the storage in the diffuse house.
“The farmer’s hard work paid off after 800kg of seeds were harvested during off-season and stored in the diffuse house located in the village of Naga,” Minister Seruiratu said.
Principal Research Officer Shalendra Prasad said the potato seeds will be used to plant during the main season as a pilot project for local seed activities.
“Our next task is to further harvest the crop in the main season and store it again in the diffuse house and construct three or more diffuse houses because the quantity will increase.”
About its market, he said potatoes are supplied to middle-men and local supermarkets and more importantly to consumers who take interest in the commodity.
“The Ministry is moving forward with the production of potatoes and has already imported 40tonnes of seeds from Australia,” Mr Prasad said.
Currently, potato planting is in progress and as soon as the Ministry is successful with local seed production, the imports of potato seeds from overseas will slowly decrease and there will be more concentration on locally produced seeds.
Press Release