Over 160 participants including farmers in agriculture, livestock, forestry and fishermen successfully took part in the inaugural four-day Shepherds Mini Agriculture Show (SMAS) on the island of Emae from 18-21 June.
SMAS was a very important event where participating farmers were observed and evaluated by technical officers from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, Fisheries and Biosecurity (MALFFB) and the Ministry of Trade, Tourism, Industry and Cooperatives to measure the level of production of farmers and what the farmers should do in preparation for the next Shepherds Mini Agriculture Show.
Many products were displayed showcasing high production of different varieties of yam with a total of 12 tonnes that were brought to SMAS, 500 Kilograms of taro, 100 bundles of banana, 20 types of annual crops that include watermelon, Chinese cabbage, English cabbage, pumpkin, lettuce, carrots and many more.
The Director for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), Antoine Ravo said “this is a huge challenge for MALFFB and the Ministry of Trade and Industry and farmers to ensure more production of other root crops like taro and manioc considering market opportunities that Vanuatu has domestically and overseas.
“Farmers have received a lot of important information during the SMAS 2019 and the Government wants to see farmers continue to work hard in order to increase their production in preparation towards the National Agriculture Festival in 2020 and the next SMAS and we want to see more production from the Shepherd Islands,” Mr Ravo said.
DARD also distributed planting materials to participating islands to encourage farmers to increase production.
“Wild yam cuttings of 360 kilograms, 584 kilograms of yam, 100 citrus seedlings, over 300 packets of seeds and 500kg of pevu yams were distributed to the farmers while 200 pepper seedlings were provided to a farmer from Makira.
“Nine varieties of manioc with 2,000 cuttings and six varieties of kumala with 1,000 cuttings were distributed to the six islands of Shepherd.
“Over 4,000 information materials including brochures, posters and booklets were distributed to farmers.
“These planting materials are climate resilient varieties that can adapt to any climate change condition.
“200 farming tools were provided to farmers as contribution from MALFFB to assist farmers to grow more agricultural products, increase production in forestry and at the same time improve their livelihood,” said Director Ravo.
Farmers were encouraged to grow planting materials and share them with other farmers.
Photo supplied Caption: Agriculture officers distributing sweet potato cuttings to farmers