Rice Harvester To Benefit 200 Plus North Farmers

More than 200 rice farmers in Vunivau-Tiritiri will benefit from a new combine rice harvester that was handed over to them by Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama yesterday.

Worth $60,000, the machine was donated by China through the rice farming project.

President of Vunivau-Tiritiri rice farmers, Suresh Chand, said the machine would help them harvest rice in a shorter period of time with less labour.

“We’re very happy with the donation of the machine. We have pre-planned for the harvest time to be different from each farmer so that everyone can have access to the machine,” he said.

“It is the first time ever to have a combine rice harvester after decades of harvesting manually.”

Mr Bainimarama said when it came to community development, the Government would not rest.

“Rice is a staple found on kitchen tables throughout the country. But all too often, that rice is grown thousands of kilometres away, imported from some far-off country.

“But there’s no reason that Fiji –– and our ideal climate for rice cultivation –– can’t make that journey from the rice paddy to our tables much, much shorter,” he said.

Edited by Ivamere Nataro

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