PGR News from the Pacific

Posted 5:19 PM by Luigi

Breadfruit industry workshop held

Fiji Times - Monday, July 04, 2005

A breadfruit industry workshop was held to discuss the procedures in growing breadfruit as an export good at Legalega research station in Nadi.

The director of research for the agriculture Ministry Jainendra Kumar said there was an urgent need to find solutions in terms of cultivation practices and post harvest treatments to increase the scope for the breadfruit market.

He said breadfruit was an important food crop in many countries especially in the Carribean and the Pacific but the distance of the market centres had become a major issue for the stakeholders in the trade.

The quality of the crop due to its highly perishable nature becomes a problem while exporting.
A project team funded by the NZAid designed a draft manual for "Growing and marketing of breadfruit for export".

Breadfruit export began in October 2001 and current exports stand at around 15 tonnes annually," Project Co-ordinator Andrew McGregor said.
He said the current export was less than what was in the Strategic Plan, which estimated 100 tonnes of crops to be exported by now.

Mr McGregor said to increase the export closer to the market potential would require a lot of effort in areas such as growing and harvesting of the crop.
"The draft manual that we are still trying to finalise is intended to assist our growers and exporters in meeting this challenge."

The manual also provides advice to growers and exporters on the handling of breadfruit for successful export.

The project team hoped that joint efforts by all stakeholders and farmers would see an increase in production to 500 tonnes of breadfruit for export in the next five years.



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DIVA-GIS	Sunday, July 10, 2005 Posted 5:19 PM by Luigi Breadfruit industry workshop held Fiji Times - Monday, July 04, 2005 A breadfruit industry workshop was held to discuss the procedures in growing breadfruit as an export good at Legalega research station in Nadi. The director of research for the agriculture Ministry Jainendra Kumar said there was an urgent need to find solutions in terms of cultivation practices and post harvest treatments to increase the scope for the breadfruit market. He said breadfruit was an important food crop in many countries especially in the Carribean and the Pacific but the distance of the market centres had become a major issue for the stakeholders in the trade. The quality of the crop due to its highly perishable nature becomes a problem while exporting. A project team funded by the NZAid designed a draft manual for "Growing and marketing of breadfruit for export". Breadfruit export began in October 2001 and current exports stand at around 15 tonnes annually," Project Co-ordinator Andrew McGregor said. He said the current export was less than what was in the Strategic Plan, which estimated 100 tonnes of crops to be exported by now. Mr McGregor said to increase the export closer to the market potential would require a lot of effort in areas such as growing and harvesting of the crop. "The draft manual that we are still trying to finalise is intended to assist our growers and exporters in meeting this challenge." The manual also provides advice to growers and exporters on the handling of breadfruit for successful export. The project team hoped that joint efforts by all stakeholders and farmers would see an increase in production to 500 tonnes of breadfruit for export in the next five years. * Comments: Post a Comment	Archive October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 January 2010 RSS Feed Alternative feed Contact Tevita Something new: Agrobiodiversity Weblog: For discussions of conservation and sustainable use of the genetic resources of crops, livestock and their wild relatives. 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