Although the year started well, with fruit and vegetable exports up by two tonnes – 75 for last month compared with 73 for the same period last year – Nature's Way Co-operative Ltd's CEO, Michael Brown, said the industry was expecting a reduction in total production for 2016.

"We are predicting a decline in exports of bilateral quarantine agreement commodities such as papaya, eggplant, mango and breadfruit if the El Nino weather system continues," Brown said. "The slight improvement was mainly due to good rainfall around Christmas last year with the 215mm received in Nadi and 327.2mm around the Sigatoka Valley."

The bulk of supply for exports through Nature's Way comes from the Sigatoka Valley.

Brown added that while the Western Division was receiving good rainfall associated with Tropical Cyclone Winston, the availability of and access to water was a serious problem for most smallfarmers. "Increasing droughts and erratic rainfall patterns makes the widespread reliance on rain-fed agriculture untenable. At the farm level, micro systems might be devised that can include rainwater harvesting, conservation and plant hydration via drip-irrigation which is now being practised by FIJI Water at Tavua for their papaya crops."

Nature's Way Co-op Ltd is the country's only high temperature forced air treatment facility for fresh produce exports in the country. It is based near the Nadi International Airport and owned and operated by farmers and exporters.

Source: fijitimes.com