Government is committed to the growth and development of the agricultural sector with increased funding support and better agriculture policies.
Acting Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad highlighted this while opening the National Agriculture Show 2025 in Nadi on Wednesday.
He said the agricultural sector had been a vital source of employment, income and livelihoods for people in rural and maritime areas.
“It (agriculture) has also been important for ensuring food security, export earnings and economic diversification,” he said.
“While sugar industry had dominated the agricultural landscape for decades, recent years have witnessed a concerted effort to bolster the non-sugar agriculture segment.
“In this budget, we have increased the total funding to the non-sugar agriculture, fisheries and forestry sector to almost $238million, an increase of over $80million from when we came into government.
“This reflects our genuine commitment to grow our resource-based sectors.”
Prof Prasad said an increased budget of $115million was provided for agriculture alone.
