Dalo tsana7/2/2023 ![]() Increasing dalo production, also means that an increase in the amount of fertilizers and chemicals that need to be applied. Each of the 20,000 dalo plants produces three to four suckers. The farm produces its own dalo planting materials, with 60,000 dalo suckers already produced from the existing farm. With the road in place, and the family plans to make some changes by re-strategising to improve their farming activities and raise production for 2019-2020. Filimoni is a former extension officer of the Ministry of Agriculture, and he has extensive work experience and knowledge, specialized on certain agricultural activities like dalo beetle eradication. There is no animal on the farm, as the family focuses entirely on crop and vegetable farming, a whole farm approach to plant for consumption for sustainable food security and income. Filimoni and his family are able to intensify their dalo production by planting an additional of 20,000 Tausala and 40,000 Hybrid varieties, and cash crops like vegetables and pineapples. With the farm access road constructed in March-April 2019, a lot of challenges faced by Filimoni in transporting the farm inputs such as dalo suckers and fertilizers, and harvested products are being addressed. Picture 2: Dalo suckers, and bags of dalo harvested are carried across the river by youth groups engagd by Filimoni during planting and harvesting periods. This was reduced significantly over the years due to lack of a farm access road, to transport farming inputs and harvested dalo to the collection point for the buyers, on the road side. The ultimate goal for the family is that through farming their family can have a sustainable income source and investments with a vision in becoming a `millionaire’ in five to ten years time.įilimoni and his family had started to intensify their farming from 2009 when they had 30,000 dalo plants. Filimoni and his wife and children have set their targets and goals to have a future sustainable livelihood that includes sending the four children to universities and a pilot training school in Nadi. ![]() The most important expenditures incurred by the family are for maintaining the farm to produce high yields, and family daily food consumptions and obligations. It has motivated the family to expand their farm utilizing the 20 acres leased farm land to increase production from 20,000 to 60,000 dalo, and to intensify their farming methods to plant assorted vegetables, fruit trees and cassava to increase family income as from 2019.įilimoni also get other sources of income from consultancy advisory services to the farmers by conducting training on dalo beetle eradication, and dalo planting practice to increase size of dalo corm based on requirements of the buyers and export markets. The family was determined to continue farming and in April 2019, a farm access road has been built with the support of the Fiji Government through the Ministry of Agriculture. ![]() Farming life has many challenges over the years that led to low yields due to cyclones, theft, and lack of farm roads. ![]() Their main goal is to improve their living standards and educate their four children. They have been farming for more than 10 years, eager to have a sustainable income source. Their main source of income derives from their dalo farm located next to two rivers (Wainitevua and Waimalua) in Korovou, Tailevu. Filimoni and his wife and four children, live in Nailaga village in the Province of Tailevu located in the central division of the main island of Viti Levu in Fiji.
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