News

$74m on beverages and fruits import annually

November 29, 2021 3:10 am

The hospitality sector spends around $74 million on beverages and fruits annually.

Speaking to farmers in Cakaudrove, Agriculture Minister, Dr Mahendra Reddy says out of this $74m, $17million alone is used for importing fresh fruits.

These fruits include grapes, oranges, apples, pears and kiwi fruit with $3.8 million of processed fruits as well.

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Dr Reddy says Fiji has all the relevant resources to plant more local fruit trees which will greatly reduce our import bill.

“We have the strategic advantage, we have the resources, we have the technology, we have the land, we have the labor, and we can grow it here. There are certain kinds of fruits we cannot grow here but we can substitute.”

Dr Reddy says farmers play a huge role in the sector as they can help the Ministry reduce its import bill come 2022.

He says the Ministry is ready to help farmers with various assistance to help grow the sector and at the same time ensure food security in communities.