Consultations are under way on the establishment of a coconut processing plant on Vanua Levu to help revitalise the coconut industry.
Findings from the consultations will be presented at the National Coconut Forum to be held at Savusavu on the 24th and 25th of this month.
Colonel Mason Smith, permanent secretary for Agriculture confirmed that a team was talking with industry stakeholders in Bua and would later move on to the rest of Vanua Levu. He said the integrated processing plant would allow the complete use of coconuts with little wastage.
The plant will have the dual purpose of producing a variety of coconut products and will also be a venue for training farmers with the skills to produce such products. "This will be a demonstration plant where all the production will be by products of coconuts,” said Colonel Smith.
"We have to show them that more can be obtained from coconut trees rather than just copra," Col. Smith said.
"You can lecture people on what to do but unless they see it and touch it, only then will they be able to transfer that knowledge and actually implement it."
Col. Smith said cost estimates for the plant were being jointly worked out by the Secretariat of the South Pacific Community, the Agriculture Department and the Coconut Industry Development Authority.
"We need to train farmers because we want to ensure that the products that they make out of coconuts like coconut water, virgin coconut oil, activate carbon, doormats, garden manure, desiccated coconuts are up to the required standard," he said.
"We met with FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) officials in Apia last month and requested funding. Once that comes through this should be an important development for the coconut industry."
The coconut tree is widespread throughout the Pacific and is sometimes referred to as the Tree of Life. This is because its parts, starting from the roots to the leaves, can be used for culinary and non-culinary purposes and it is also used for building purposes.
