Kelera Ditaiki 
[Photo: File]
The Ministry of Agriculture is encouraging more food processing to reduce the amount of seasonal produce going to waste.
Minister for Agriculture and Waterways Tomasi Tunabuna says seasonal fruits are often available only for a short period, leading to wastage when there are limited processing and storage facilities.
“We normally have wastage for seasonal crops like mangoes, when we have only one or two months of fruiting and a lot of fruits are going to waste because they don’t have processing facilities that can process whether it’s mango juice or mango gels and all those other products that we can get. So that we have a continuous supply of juice even though the mangoes are not.”
Tunabuna says farmers could benefit from turning seasonal fruits into products such as juice and other processed foods.
This would allow mango products to remain available even after the fruit is out of season.
He says, value addition can also create more income opportunities for farmers and reduce reliance on imported food products.
He says food processing is one of the areas that will be highlighted at this year’s Agriculture Show, as the Government looks for ways to improve productivity and reduce wastage.
