A new Jaagriti pigeon pea variety was released in Nadi yesterday after some 15 years of research conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture’s Research Division.
Officiating at the event held at Kishore Verma’s Farm in Korovuto, Minister for Agriculture Dr Mahendra Reddy noted the significance of the release of the new variety in relation to reducing the country’s import bill on pulse crops.
“Our agriculture sector is challenged by our dependency on imported food, low private sector participation, inadequate domestic food production and productivity, and market access for our exports,” Mr Reddy said.
“The major challenge is to produce more of our requirements locally in-country while providing economic opportunities, greater self-reliance, and enhanced food and nutrition security in the process.”
Mr Reddy said on average, Fiji imported about 398 metric tonnes of assorted pulses annually valued at approximately $12.5million.
He said Fiji also exported an average of 44 metric tonnes of assorted pulses valued at $0.3m.
According to a Government statement released yesterday, in 2019, 216 hectares of land were cultivated with pulses, engaging 9600 farmers and harvested 2240 metric tonnes, an increase of 430 tonnes as compared to 2018.
“Research is playing a vital role in finding answers to questions, in the process generating scientific data, which are converted to practical information for the users, and it is these users who contribute immensely to the agriculture sector,” said Mr Reddy.
Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) also known as red gram is a perennial legume from the family of Fabaceae (crops that produce beans/pods). Pigeon pea is one of the promising crops for drier areas of Fiji.
The green and dry peas can be cooked in many different dishes and are very nutritious, having about 20 per cent protein per 100 grams.
It also belongs to the family Leguminosae, crops that fix atmospheric nitrogen and enrich the soil.
