The Taiwan Technical Mission in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture conducted a guava cultivation observation meeting for 60 participants at the their office in Nausori on Wednesday.
The event mainly focused on providing technical guidance for women from three villages in the district of Navuakece in Naitasiri, and also included experts from the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, and students from the Fiji National University (FNU).
Taiwan Technical Mission expert Pascal Kuo said the training and field day session covered topics on understanding the guava fruit, preparation and planting, caring, pest and disease management, and harvesting.
“The women learned how to cultivate guava and, through proper management, achieve sufficient yields that can be sold at markets to earn profits,” Mr Kuo said.
“This not only enhances the economic independence of the women in the community but also contributes to the overall development of the community through small-scale economic improvements, creating a positive cycle.”
Mr Kuo said growing guava in the South Pacific islands could be quite rewarding because the climate was generally well-suited for tropical and subtropical plants like guava.
He said TTM had helped more than 50 farmers who owned a collective 17 hectares of land, with the average yield of 4.61 tonne/hectare, “so the operating income could be $69,150 a year”.
He adds guava have high level vitamin C, double than that of kiwi fruit, and can meet Vitamin C needs for a 10-member family a day.
“Guava is a very good business in Fiji and also the winter-produced fruit have the best quality, it’s very sweet.”
