Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
The Chinese Government and Fiji’s Agriculture Ministry signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on June 2, 2015 for Phase 1 of the Rice Revitalization Project. The purpose of this project was to improve rice yields on the island of Vanua Levu. This MoU was one of 21 commercial and government MOUs signed during the Fiji-China (Guangdong) Economic and Trade Cooperation Conference held at Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva, Fiji. The project was implemented by China Shandong International Economic and Technical Cooperation Group Limited in technical partnership with hybrid rice seed company, Yuan Longping High-Tech Agriculture Company Limited. Under this cooperation framework, a rice development project was formed in the Dreketi irrigated areas within Muanicula province on the island of Vanua Levu. The project area of 200 ha was used to establish, demonstrate, and disseminate high yielding rice cultivation techniques to increase yield in large-scale rice production. The Chinese Government provided a grant worth FJ$10 million for the project in the period from January 2015 to December 2016. China Shandong International Economic and Technical Cooperation Group Limited and Yuan Longping High-Tech Agriculture Company Limited were expected to work at the Northern Dreketi Irrigation Project on 200 hectares of rice land extension. By September 2016, about 10 ha were cultivated following mechanized production technologies. Chinese experts also implemented cooperation with Koronivia Rice Research Center (also known as Koronivia Research Station) to develop new high-yielding varieties. The aim of the project was to bring Fiji’s rice industry closer to self-sufficiency by helping local farmers to meet domestic demand, which will reduce dependency on rice imports, and to revitalize the rice industry. The project reportedly increased the rice yield of 6.31 tons per hectare, which is more than twice the local average, providing much-needed assistance to rice farmers in Dreketi and Koronivia.
Staff comments
On December 17, 2015, the Chinese Government also donated $5 million worth of agricultural machinery to support Phase 1 of the Rice Revitalization Project (see Record ID#65824). China's Commerce Minister Chen Deming and interim Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama also signed an RMB 25 million grant agreement for the Vanua Levu Rice Industry Development Project and the Chinese Government provided eight technical experts to conduct a feasibility study for the project (see Record ID#40451). In June 2017, discussions were held between Fiji’s Ministry of Agriculture and the Longing Group delegation from China about a Second Phase of the Rice Revitalization Project (see Record ID#65031). This project is also known as the Vanua Levu Agricultural Development Project. The Chinese project title is 中国援助斐济北岛农业发展项目.