A stern warning from the Min­istry of Agriculture has been issued to farmers, benefiting from government assistance, not to cultivate marijuana plants.

This comes after the Fiji Police Force raids discovered the illicit drug to be planted beside root crops and vegeta­bles.

Minister Mahendra Reddy, said there would be consequences if farmers were found with it.

“Marijuana is illegal in the country. They should not plant it anywhere,” he said.

“If they want to do intercropping, there are other crops that they can use and we are promoting that, not mari­juana.

“They can’t use the ministry’s sup­port to grow an illegal plant,” Dr Reddy said.

Some of the assistance farmers have received were seedlings and farming equipment that amount to hundreds of dollars.

Commissioner of Police, Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho said the new technique by farmers was discovered when they raided parts of Kadavu last week.

He said the illicit drug was only plant­ed in areas that were less than 10 me­tres from the village.

Anyone would now have to suffer the full brunt of the law if the marijuana were being cultivated on their land, even if they do not have any knowledge of it.

Police have engaged the Drug Act 2004 to determine the way they would deal with such matters.

The Act regulates and controls the cultivation, manufacture, importa­tion, exportation, sale, supply, posses­sion, use of illicit drugs and controlled chemicals, and related matters.

“I’m not threatening them; I want them to work with us. We need to work together,” he said.

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