Farmers

The vanilla farmers in Port Patrick were fortunate to attend several training sessions on vanilla farming techniques until harvesting and curing of vanilla beans.

Most of these farmers have had good experience and have made huge progress in maintaining their vanilla plots following the trainings provided by the Vanuatu Skills Partnership (VSP) with the support of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) through its Assistant Agriculture Officer (AAO) on Aneityum, Mike Jimmy.

The Department of Agriculture is advising all farmers to take precautions before a Tropical Cyclone forms.

Farmers are being urged to cut off tree branches close to farm houses as they could cause damage.

Other precautionary measures include remove old farm houses that are not needed, reinforce the roofing of the farm house with nails or a rope and bar, and the windows of the farm house with iron roofing or timber.

Minister for MALFFB, Matai Seremaiah said, “I managed to convince the Governments of Australia and New Zealand to provide financial assistance by investing in mechanisation.

 “The Australian government has supported MALFFB with four tractors and New Zealand government one tractor. The tractors were allocated to the islands of Maewo, Tanna, Erromango, Efate and Epi.  For the first time last year 2018, the Vanuatu government allocated budget to purchase three more tractors,” Mr Seremaiah said.

The tractors were allocated to Gaua, Santo and Malekula.

According to the department, more than 19,100 branches of kava or kava cuttings mostly of the noble variety were distributed to interested farmers on Santo and Malo island.

One of the components of the agreement is the delivery of kava seedlings for farmers.

The signing agreement is part of the ministry’ s policy directives through the office of the Minister and Director General, to continue to strengthen the participation of private sector within agriculture sector through long and short term contracts.

The contract was signed by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, Fisheries and Biosecurity (MALFFB), Hosea Nevu and Aaron Prendergast of VAS.

The signing of the contract follows a Government tender process for VAS to supply three tractors to the Ministry of Agriculture.

The main objective of the agreement is part of a continuity of mechanization policy of MALFFB through the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to support and assist local farmers to increase production of food and cash crop at their farm level.

The members of South West Bay Farmers Association (SWBFA) will collect information about the number of plants grown by their members from Lembinwen to South Coast on Malekula.

The main purpose of this kava data collection is to find out the total number of kava production in South West Bay.

Production data for kava is one of the activities resolved during the SWBFAs’ first meeting that took place in Lorlow village last week.

It was a first meeting to develop plans for 2019 that will be implemented by farmers in South West Bay.

The exporters are Vanuatu Cocoa and Copra Exporters Limited (VCCE) and Commodity Corporation Pty Ltd (C-CORP) and Alternative Communities Trade in Vanuatu (ACTIV) Association.

ACTIV produces chocolate from cocoa beans bought from local farmers. Vanuatu cocoa beans are exported to Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

Twenty-five percent of rural households in Vanuatu are involved in cocoa production.

Most cocoa is produced by smallholder farmers based in the northern islands.

The cyclone season in Vanuatu runs from November to April.

Farmers are being advised to pay attention to messages sent out by authorities in the event a cyclone develops.

The department said farmers can cut off tree branches close to farm houses, remove old farm houses that are not needed, reinforce the roofing with nails or a rope and bar the windows with iron roofing or timber.

Director Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vanuatu said 'This training is unique and brings together our hard working farmers from all six provinces of Vanuatu to help develop the vegetable and fruits sector to enhance seed production in Vanuatu.'

The training supports Vanuatu's Agriculture Sector Policy and Vanuatu's National Fruits and Vegetables Strategy (2017 - 2028) and the Pacific Community’s (SPC) Seed for Life Initiative.