More than seven thousand farmers were affected by the tropical depression which occurred in December.
The total value of damage caused by TDO4F on Fiji’s agriculture sector amounts to $11. 7 million.
Damage sustained in the agriculture sector included crops, livestock and agricultural infrastructure in all the four divisions of the country.
“The first thing that we did was to distribute seeds to affected farmers, to assist with both the food security and also with income generation and we will also be assisting these farmers with provision of chemicals, fertilizers and clearing of debris wherever they have occurred in the farms. For livestock industry the damage was little less than in the crop side but for livestock farmers we will assist them with restoration of pasture and improving their fences” said Jitendra Singh – Permanent Secretary Agriculture
Food security, Singh said remains a key priority for the Ministry.
“Most of the damage is concentrated in the central division, there’s a lot of damage around Naitasiri, in Waibuka, Wainimala river area around just below $3 million damage in the western division so we have finalized that report and we are now from the information that we have, close to about 7,700 farmers have been affected because of the tropical depression”
The total cost of damage to the agriculture sector will be sourced from the Ministry.
“That work is being done right now but the assistance has actually started with the farmers so we had, if you recall we had some assistance from the Government of India for the seeds, that was also our first response we distributed the seeds and the manure fertilizers and chemicals will come a bit later in the process so when the seeds start germinating then we will start the second and third phases of the assistance”
Crops sustained the majority of the damage at $11.1 million, followed by livestock at close to $247,000 while infrastructure damage is valued at around $365,000.