The Ministry of Agriculture staff in the Western Division are doing a great job, however, there is still room needed for improvement to better their services towards the farmers.

This was the thought of newly- appointed Assistant Minister for Agriculture, Viam Pillay.

Mr Pillay is on his official tour visiting farmers in the Western Division.

“I have seen my team really doing a great job, but there are still a lot of areas where we can improve and better serve our farmers,” Mr Pillay said.

“The main purpose is to visit the farmers and also to see some of the projects, where the farmers have already been assisted and to see how they are doing.”

Mr Pillay, who has vast experience as a farmer on his sugar cane farm in Moto, Ba, said: “I had encouraged staff in the office to see how best they can provide services right to the farmers, they are really doing well, even though those areas did not experience any damage because of the cyclone.

“I am here just to talk to them and see how we can improve and work closely with the farmers on the ground.

“I have requested all my staff to provide the technical and relevant support.

“And we provide through our ministry to those farmers on the ground and see how best we can get more projects and assist more farmers.”

He added some farmers in Nadi raised issues of not having power supply in the area.

“We also take note of those issues and we will go back and liaise with other relevant ministries as to how best we can best solve this problem.”

Mr Pillay and his entourage had visited farmers in Korovou, Tailevu since Monday and also areas in the Ra province, Tavua, Ba, and Lautoka where he had talks with dairy and vegetables farmers.

EDITED BY: IVAMERE NATARO

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