Source: Navitalai Naivalurua, Fiji Village
To minimize the flooding of pawpaw and pineapple in the market, the government through the Ministry for Agriculture will soon be launching candy products made from these two fruits.
Minister for Agriculture Dr. Mahendra Reddy says farmers will not have to worry about flooding the market with pineapple and pawpaw because the Agriculture Marketing Authority would take care of the purchasing of the produce.
Dr. Reddy says at the moment local supermarkets were selling dried fruits and dried candies manufactured abroad, but that would change as the country would now have the capacity to produce its own as part of product development by the Agriculture Ministry.
He says if we do not create new products and continue to push these commodities, the markets will become flooded.
Dr. Reddy adds the issues of perishability and overstocking the market were some challenges the government was working on addressing, through product development in the Ministry of Agriculture.
He says a significant amount of work in his Ministry is now being dedicated to product development.