Pacific Island countries need strong legislation and legal frameworks to regulate the import, distribution and management of chemical pesticides. Additionally, a harmonised regional pesticide registration system is being advocated. These were two of the issues discussed at a regional workshop to review the management of pesticides in the Pacific region. The workshop, held 10–12 September 2014, at the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) Regional Office in Suva, Fiji, brought together key regional and national stakeholders to promote working together and increasing the capacity to implement the objectives of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) for sustainable agriculture.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in collaboration with SPC Land Resources Division, organised the workshop, and attended by delegates from 12 Pacific Island countries and territories: Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Marshall Islands, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea.  

Wednesday, 16 July 2014 10:35

Ready access to land, labour and credit are the basic resources necessary for farming. And choosing the right type of farming is dependent on how land can be accessed, what labour is available (family or hire), and what assets the farmer has to obtain credit. Government services through research and extension departments of ministries of agriculture, and the development of long-term agriculture sector strategies are conditions necessary for private-sector led agricultural growth.

The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), supported by the European Union (EU), is conducting a national workshop for sugar sector officers titled ‘Understanding and Interpreting the Soil Resources of Fiji’. This workshop aims to create awareness on the importance of knowledge about the Soils of Fiji and to build the capacity of the extension officers to become potential trainers on Soil Description, Soil Assessments, Soil Interpretation and Crop Suitability.

The training, provided by SPC through its Land Resources Division, takes place 26–30 May in Nadi, Fiji, with 30 participants consisting of 26 men and 4 women from the Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC), Sugar Cane Growers Council, Cane Producers Association, Sugar Research Institute of Fiji, Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Rural Development.

Modern technologies like Web 2.0 offer new and innovative approaches of enhancing dissemination of agriculture information in support of conventional extension systems which are almost non-existent in farming communities, says Ambassador Martin Dihm, the Head of European Union Delegation to PNG.

Speaking during the opening of a Web 2.0 and Social Media learning opportunity in Port Moresby on Monday, Ambassador Dihm said online platforms and tools are important for facilitating interactive knowledge creation and real time information dissemination for improved agriculture development and productivity. He said the modern technology can provide users with a new, speedy and most powerful tool to gather fast and up-to-date information, to network, exchange with one another and collaboratively create databases of production knowledge.