The Growers Federation of Tonga Inc. and PIFON (Pacific Islands Farmer Organization Network) are going to sign a Letter of Agreement by the end of January 2015 sealing an agreement that PIFON will finance four practical training activities for Tongan Growers in 2015.
These training activities include training on how to consistently produce pineapple all year round; how to grow and manage papaya plantation for the export market; basic training for growers on how to plan production, safe use of chemicals and good agricultural practices as well as open pollination of vegetable seeds.
Two of the training programs will be run by experts from the Pacific and two will be facilitated by local experts. Peter Kjaer of Tei Tei Taveuni, Fiji will be in Tonga in mid 2015 to demonstrate techniques on producing pineapple fruits consistently throughout the year.
Another exciting training to come is the open pollination of vegetable seeds. For so long, Tongan vegetable growers have relied heavily on imported hybrid pollinated seeds. Training on open pollination will reduce growers’ cost of production through cheaper local production, storage and supplying of seeds.
These training activities will not only enhance concerned growers’ knowledge and experience on commercial vegetable farming, moreover – they will have more money in their pockets for their families.
Growers are very excited about these new opportunities to learn more and earn more.
These training activities include on how to consistently produce pineapple all year round; how to manage papaya plantation for the export market; basic training for growers on how to plan production, safe use of chemicals and good agricultural practices as well as open pollination of vegetable seeds.
These training activities will not only enhance concerned growers’ knowledge and experience on commercial farming, moreover – they will have more money in their pockets for their families.
Growers are very excited about these new opportunities to learn more and earn more.
The agreement is part of the second phase of the Medium Term Cooperation Programme (MTCP2) sponsored by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) which now includes countries in the Pacific.
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