Nadi, Fiji – Private and public sector nursery operators and stakeholders, particularly in the cane belt area, will be gathering in Nadi this week to discuss issues, share experiences and new ideas at a forum hosted by the Pacific Community (SPC) and the European Union.
[restrict]
The Horticulture Nursery Operators Forum (from 6 to 8 July) will provide training for local nursery staff to upskill and improve their current processes and practices in an effort to increase their overall production.
The forum is an initiative under the Improvement of Key Services to Agriculture (IKSA) Project, which is an EU-funded initiative implemented by SPC focused on creating new opportunities in the horticulture and sugar market through working with local nurseries.
The training and information exchange seeks to build on the IKSA seedling initiative that successfully coordinated efforts between local nurseries – most of which commenced with assistance from SPC and the EU – that resulted in 40,000 fruit and vegetable seedlings being donated to the Ministry of Agriculture to help rebuild the agriculture sector post-TC Winston.
Highlights of this event include visits to successful farms around Nadi, an irrigation options display by Marco Polo International Limited and to SPC’s Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePACT) at Narere. [/restrict]