Agriculture Ministry monitors El Niño as farmers urged to be on alert

The Ministry of Agriculture and Waterways will continue monitoring the effects of the strengthening El Niño before deciding whether assistance is needed for farmers expected to face increasingly dry conditions.

Permanent Secretary Andrew Tukana said no specific support had been allocated at this stage, with any intervention to depend on the impact of the prolonged dry spell.

"We'll just have to continue to monitor," Mr Tukana told this masthead on Friday.

"Then if there comes such a time when there will be a need, then we would analyse it, look into it."

His comments come as the Fiji Meteorological Service confirmed El Niño is under way and strengthening, with forecasts indicating it could intensify to a strong or very strong event.

Mr Tukana said the Western Division and other traditionally dry parts of the country were expected to be the most affected, with crops becoming vulnerable once soil moisture declined during critical growing stages.

"You might have to revert to other things like irrigation to support water," he said.

He urged farmers to harvest and store rainwater while conditions still allowed, noting that the Central Division continued to receive rainfall even as other parts of the country became drier.

"Besides the cold, farmers need to be able to use water wisely as well as to store water when there's rain," Mr Tukana said.

Minister for Public Works, Meteorological Services and Transport Ro Filipe Tuisawau has separately warned that Fiji is expected to experience its driest period between October and December.

The Water Authority of Fiji has also activated dry-weather contingency plans nationwide as 44 monitored water sources come under increasing pressure.