Government’s resolution to addressing issues faced by farmers in the country was emphasized to farmers in the Central Division.
This was highlighted by the Minister for Agriculture Hon. Dr. Mahendra Reddy when meeting with farmers and visiting project areas yesterday during his Central Division tour.
Hon. Reddy said the two-day visit allowed the Ministry to discuss issues faced by farmers, which in turn affected their production.
While addressing farmers of Baulevu, Minister Reddy said Government would work with farmers to resolve their issues and highlighted areas that needed improvement within the agriculture sector as he encouraged farmers to venture into commercial farming.
“We are here to listen and see if there are particular concerns regarding your farms but as you may already know, we want you to move away from dependent agriculture.
“Farming is the best employment, which is why you need to change your way of farming from subsistence to a more business oriented venture. Your farm is your own business, we do not want you to share your revenue, we want you to grow, be productive and move onto commercial agriculture,” said Minister Reddy.
“I would like to hear from farmers the hindrance to this initiative, and we will map out strategies to fix those problems because these are positive changes that we hope will help drive the country’s economy forward,” he added.
Minister Reddy gave his assurances to farmers that the Ministry would continue to assist all farmers, in particular farmers who had interests in furthering their farms to commercial levels.
“If you want to do small-holder or semi-subsistence farming, then do it at your own will, your own cost and your own leisure time, we cannot continue to be running after small-holder farmers. However, in the national interest, we want you to view agriculture as a business”.
As part of the tour, Minister Reddy and senior officials of the Ministry visited poultry farms, dalo farms and various agricultural projects in the Central Division.