Peniasi Laweloa left with Taiwan Technical Mission Specialist Godfree Kuo. Photo: LUKE NACEI
By LUKE NACEI
Nadarivatu farmers are superb at producing quality vegetables.
This could be witnessed in Peniasi Laweloa’s life, a hardworking farmer and has been engaged in farming ever since he was little.
For a person like Laweloa, farming has always been part of his life and something he says he will never turn away from.
“I am determined not to lose the hard work of generations of farmers and the businesses I have built up,” he said.
Now at the age of 50, Laweloa says young kids of today are to be encouraged to practice farming since not everyone will have white collar jobs.
Mr Laweloa has a big vegetable farm with produce such as sweet corn, capsicum, spring onions, lettuce and tomatoes.
He says cash crop farming is the best and suitable way the people of Nadarivatu should practice.
He said his produce is synonymous everywhere with the best quality, safety, and healthy vegetables.
“The way we grow, produce, sell and buy food is changing rapidly we need to make sure that our producers are able to meet the challenges they face so that they can capitalise on the growing interest in food provenance, standards and safety to capture more of the market at home,” he said.
He also said that food is a vital part of our national life and food producers can lead the world.
“I would like to encourage the people of Nadarivatu to practice cash cropping. Firstly a lot of this people just practice long term vegetation which takes a lot of time to harvest. They cannot get the fact the cash cropping is the easiest way to plant and at the same time harvest.
“This is can be one of the main sources of income which can assist their family needs.
They plant cassava, Dalo, yaqona and this takes almost a year to harvest.
According to Mr Laweloa he earns $4500per week and with deductions made for his fuel price and other farming needs he is left with $2500.
Meanwhile, Mr Laweloa was able to showcase his produce and as well his farm during a field day organized by the Taiwan group in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture.