Solomon Islands Exports Taro To Australia

Alfred Maesulia
Under Secretary
Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock

Solomon Islands Taro To Australia

Three tones of taro from the Weather Coast of Guadalcanal will be exported to Brisbane in Australia this Friday.

Thanks to Mrs. Upu Kaukui of Salmoa Farm Produce who said the consignment would be her 3rd times to export taro to Australia.

"I started with 800 kg of taro about a year ago and 1200 kg some months later," Upu Kaukui told agriculture officers who went to see preparation for the consignment in Ranadi, east of Honiara.

Mrs. Kaukui, a Samoan who married to a Solomon Islander said she is looking at exporting yam and kong kong taro (karuvera) next year. She said the problem is that some crops, such as yam, are seasonal and they are available only during certain times of the year.

The family business, Solmoa Farm Produce, is the first to penetrate the Australian market as far as marketing of taro is concerned.

The owner of Solmoa Farm Produce, Mrs. Kaukui, said her agent in Australia is her brother.

"Demand from our clients in Australia is beyond the 3,000 kg that we are ready to send this Friday on a cargo plane," Mrs. Kaukui explained.

Salmoa Farm Produce is encouraging farmers to come forward if they have food crops such as taro, yam and kong kong taro.

A local agent who collected taro from the Weather Coast said that the more than 3 tones of taro had come only from two villages. The agent said there were other villages in the weather coast of Guadalcanal which have large gardens of taro.

Villagers, the agent said, were pleased to have access to easy market to sell their produces without going through the hard times to come to Honiara markets.

ENDS

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