The Animal Health and Production Division ( AH&P Division) provides three main services to the public, namely technical support and advisory service in Animal Production, Livestock Research and Development, and thirdly Veterinary and Regulatory Services to its clients.

1.0 Animal Production

The main efforts are channelled towards

animal production work in the various commodities like Beef, Dairy, Sheep, Goats, Pigs, Poultry, Ducks, Bees and Feed Technology.

1.1 Beef will be looking into subsistence, smallholder feedlot farms, semi-commercial and commercial feedlot technology apart from the normal grazing beef cattle farming that has been supported for the past 30-40 years. It is felt that should the breakthrough in the large commercial feedlot technology be made, twice the present annual beef production of 8,000 cattle processed through the abattoirs will be achieved. This means that 18,000 cattle will be processed in one year. Apart from meat production and nutritious protein supply to the peoples of Fiji at least 1000 new livestock feed farms averaging 10-20 acres each (or 10,000-20,000 acres of land for livestock feed) will be developed and established to supply at least 100 tonnes of feed per day for the feedlot technology. This new concept is definitely going to impact food security, income security, import substitution, consistent quantity and quality supply of beef to the tourism sector, and open the window of export opportunity once it is successfully initiated in the next 12-18 months. Public Private Partnership will be a machinery to implement this program and should be well for Fiji and the contribution of Beef to the Agricultural Gross Domestic Product (Agricultural GDP).

1.2 Dairy has experienced significant growth in the past 6 years when the Division has channelled its efforts towards the smallholder subsistence dairy farming systems. Previously, 20% of the farms were large commercial dairy farms producing 80% of the milk that went through dairy processing plants. Nowadays however, with more efforts channelled towards the smallholder dairy farms the market share of this segment of the dairy industry has increase from 20% in the past to 41% in the past 6 years. The smallholder cut-and-carry dairy system will continue to be developed while the large commercial dairy farmers will also continue to be supported by the Division. The issue of land leases is already being addressed in the effort that no decline in the dairy industry occurs. In this regards, a win-win situation is being subscribed to by the Division by bringing both the land resource owners and the tenant community in the dairy sector. A AH&P Dairy Land Lease Task Force is already in operation to address this critical issue. Finally, the dairy requirement for Fiji is approximately equivalent to 80 million litres of milk annually. Local production processed in the factory is only around 10-12 million litres per year. The remaining 88-90 million litres is supplied via overseas imports. Due to the inability of the local industry to supply this need and local demand for the past 40-50 years other entrants into the dairy importation, processing and re-export will be encouraged whilst support to the local entities who have singularly struggled in the past 40 years to provide Fiji's need will continue.

1.3 Sheep production in Fiji has come to a pivotal point where the possibility of significant, substantial and immediate impact on import substitution can be achieved via the concept of Embryo Transfer Technology is to be explored now. For the past 25 years or more (since 1980) Fiji has successfully quarantined the exotic Barbados Blackbelly (BBB) tropical hair sheep to exclude Scrapie (the prion of which is said to have been the source of Mad Cow Disease) from Fiji, developed the Fiji Fantastic Breed of sheep, and entered a farm dissemination program, however the pace has been such that only around 8,000 Fiji Fantastic Breed of sheep are on the ground today. For the past 5 years the policy of rapid multiplication of sheep capitalizing on the all-year-round breeding capability of the breed, the capability of the BBB gene to produce triplets, and the fact that the Fiji Fantastic Breed of sheep has stabilized in its phenotypic traits in Fiji. Initially 1000 surrogates, 250 premium elite donor ewes and 50 donor rams will enter the program. This will be increased to 4000 surrogates such that in 5 years time (2011) 100,000 adult ewe equivalent will be existent in Fiji. This will require 16,000 -17,000 hectare of land for feed source in the next 5 years and the possibility of the development of a small livestock feed industry over a very short time. Land resource owners and the tenant community stand to gain from this if the get their act together. Once again the new concept is bound to meet Fiji's food security needs, generate rural income security, contribute towards import substitution, provide consistent quantity and quality supply of mutton to the tourism sector, and open the window of export opportunity once it is successfully initiated in the next 12-18 months. Public Private Partnership will be a machinery to implement this program and should contribute towards Fiji's Agricultural GDP.

1.4 Apiculture, Honeybee or Honey Production is one of the 4 priorities in the Division, including the three highlighted above. The expansion of the honeybee industry in Fiji is at a very dynamic pace with particular emphasis to smallholder groups and the rural community. Six modules of rural training are being pursued by the AH&P Division namely, Module 1 - Basic Beekeeping, Module 2 - Hive Construction, Module 3 - Queen Production, Module 4 - Bee Diseases, Module 5 - Value Adding of Honeybee Products and Module 6 - Integration of Honeybee Production with Crop Farming Systems. The potential market requirement for honey in Fiji is equivalent to 50,000 hives. With only around 5,000 -6,000 current honeybee hives developed in Fiji up to 2006 a lot of room for expansion exists. Once again the new honeybee program is bound to meet Fiji's food security needs, generate rural income security, contribute towards import substitution, provide consistent quantity and quality supply of honey to the local and tourism sector, and open the window of export opportunity once it is successfully initiated in the next 12-18 months. Public Private Partnership will be a machinery to implement this program and should contribute towards Fiji's Agricultural GDP.

1.5 Poultry production is mostly run by the private sector and is 85%-90% self-sufficient. The concept of the smallholder poultry was introduced in the years of 1999 - 2000 when 6 farms were established. This small start of $11,000 nett profit has increased to 130 farms with a nett revenue circulating in the rural community now equivalent to around $0.25 million nett annually. The smallholder concept is being expanded by the broiler industry and is tentatively been considered by the edible egg sector of the poultry industry. Still on the smallholder projects, the FAO is looking into ducks/chicken as a rural TCP or Technical Cooperation Project. It is anticipated that the duck industry will be the next to soar in the poultry sector.

1.6 Pig production is mostly run by the private sector also with self sufficiency standing at around 90% also. However, the magiti for religious and customary needs is an area that needs to be developed via a smallholder pig farming project for the purpose of accessibility and affordability to the rural community.

1.7 Goat Production is an industry that has been left to the private sector also. Once again the market is the rural religious and ceremonial market.

1.8 For years feed and livestock nutrition has been incorporated within each of the livestock commodities discussed above. This incorporation into each commodity has worked to the detriment of this sector of livestock production. In 2001/2002 therefore it was decided that the concept of feed technology was to stand as a separate commodity on its own. The 100,000 adult ewe equivalent produced by the Embryo Transfer Technology, for example, will need 400 tonnes of feed per day, or 146,000 tonnes of feed annually. The 18,000 cattle in the feedlot technology, as another example, will need around 20,000 metric tons of feed in dry matter form annually. Therefore either a marked increase in fodder crop farms will entail or a small livestock feed industry will be needed in both this new concepts of Feedlot Technology in Beef Cattle and embryo Transfer in sheep etc.

1.9 Waste Management also needs serious consideration in the new era of livestock production in Fiji. For example, the 200 or so registered dairy farms in Fiji carry around 10,000 milking cows. Waste from these animals need to be managed in such a way now that it is environmentally sustainable. Biogas generation and transformation of this into electricity will be looked into. Considering that a dairy cow produces manure equivalent to 1mega-Watt-hour per year the possibility of electricity generation on the 200 dairy farms or at least 10,000mega-Watt-hour from dairy cattle in Fiji and selling this energy form back to the Fiji Electricity Authority is a possible program in the near future. Furthermore, forty (40) biogas digesters already exist in pig farms in Fiji. Exploring electricity generation from these pig farms also is being considered.

2. Livestock Research & Development

Livestock research and development concentrates on basic research in pigs, dairy, sheep, beef, feed technology and waste management. Most of the research is based on nutrition and compares feed manufactured by feed millers with research formulations in the various species mentioned above. New areas for investigation will be related to the prototype feed mill processing and preparations of local raw ingredients for smallholder farmers in the next year or so. Finally a new area of research would be related to waste management, conversion of biogas into electricity so that any excess of the latter could be sold to the national grid.

3. Veterinary and Regulatory Services

Veterinary service in the Division is provided by the para-vet cadre under the supervision of the professional registered veterinary surgeon in Fiji. Around 22 veterinary clinics located in the major towns of Fiji basically handle gastro-intestinal parasites in cattle, sheep and goats, mastitis in dairy cattle, and other simple diseases encountered in Fiji. Simple veterinary drugs like anthelmintics are sold by the clinics to the farmers while prescription drugs are dispensed when sick animals are attended to in the clinics or in the field. Veterinary surgery and the practice of veterinary medicine on more complex disease entities is restricted to registered veterinary surgeons only. The regulatory services looks after Meat Inspection, Animal Pounds, Dog Control, the Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Campaign, Animal Licences and Stock Movement Control to name a few. The shift of the regulatory services to carry out dog trapping only is a welcome animal welfare shift, but this has also led to the mass slaughter of innocent sheep and goats by marauding packs of wild, feral, semi-domesticated, and domestic dogs in the country. Dog control via surgical neutering does not seem to be working in controlling stray dogs and alternative methods needs to be identified if not discovered. Possibly, humane chemical castration of dogs may be a way for Fiji. The veterinary services also assists the Quarantine Division ( which is soon to be privatised) in Import Risk Analysis, Issue of Import Permits, Export Certificates, and Transit Permit, Protocol Developments etc in relation to Animal Quarantine in Fiji. Over the years Fiji has been adopting OIE Guideleines in its Sanitary Phytosanitary Measures, and eventually in October this Year (2006) Cabinet has approved Fiji's Membership of the OIE and the Ministry of Finance as approved the OIE Membership Fee for next year.

4. Conclusion

Taking into consideration all of the above the Animal Health & Production Division of the Ministry of Agriculture of Fiji has some very exciting challenges for the immediate to medium term future development of Fiji. Its efforts to contribute to food security, income security, import substitution, export opportunities, and to the Agricultural GDP can be realised with the support of Government, particularly through funding and financial provision for its capital projects. The Ministry of Agriculture's Vision of "A dynamic agricultural sector providing food and income security for all" is definite subscribed to and ascribed to by the Animal Health & Production Division of the Ministry. We look forward to holding hands with all stakeholders in realising this dynamic and responsible Vision. Thank you and the blessing of the Lord God Jesus Christ be on you.