SUVA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Fiji planned to plant more locally tropical fruit trees and may cut fruit imports in the future as the government provided assistance to farmers and built more orchards.

Speaking at the establishment of 45 new orchard farms on Thursday, Fiji's Agriculture Minister Mahendra Reddy said the island nation has the potential to cut its imports if more fruits are grown locally.

Fiji imports 17 million Fijian dollars (around 8.1 million U.S. dollars) of fresh fruits in a year, including grapes, oranges, apples, pears and kiwi fruit.

These imported fruits have substituted locally grown tropical fruits like guavas, mangoes, avocados, mandarins and other indigenous fruits in Fijian hotels and supermarkets.

Reddy said the new orchards have met the selection criteria for assistance under the Ministry of Agriculture's 2021-2022 Fruit Tree program in Fiji.

Through this assistance, the ministry will provide budgetary and technical support to successful recipients, including land preparation, supply of agro-inputs, planting materials, as well as providing regular advisory services.

The newly built orchards will be used to plant bananas, oranges, avocados, breadfruits, jackfruits, drinking coconuts, mangosteen, and rambutan. Enditem

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