Copra Planter

Every Fijian A

"Plant More Coconuts"

Campaign

BELIEVING that the world shortage of fats will last from 15 to 20 years, the Government of Fiji has launched a campaign amongst the Fijians for a whole sale planting of coconuts.

Two-thirds of Fiji’s production of copra (it was 34,000 tons in 1947) is already produced by Fijians.

On March 17 (following a flying visit by one of the heads of the British Direct orate of Food) it was announced that every able-bodied Fijian was being asked to plant as many nuts as possible on every scrap of Fijian land suitable for the purpose.

A minimum of 250 new palms for every adult male was suggested as a desirable achievement, and even school children in the provinces are being urged to plant.

Special care is being urged in the selec tion of nuts for planting. The early bearing (4 years) dwarf type of Malayan coconut is preferred and will be planted as they are forthcoming from Fiji's chief copra producing areas on Taveuni.

All existing Fijian plantations are be ing cleaned up, in order that nothing of the present crop will be lost.

The Fijians usually respond well to Government-sponsored campaigns and they no doubt will respond to this call for the production of more fats.

Presumably the Fiji Government is bas ing its appeal on a belief that negotia tions between the Governments of Fiji and UK, which are proceeding with re gard to a guaranteed price for Fiji copra over a long term, will be successful. It is reasonable to expect, however, that by the time that the “campaign coconuts ’ are in full bearing (about eight years from now) the world vegetable oil posi tion will have improved considerably— providing, of course, that there is no Third World War.

British officials, however, argue that the vegetable oil storage will last for a generation. They say that not only will India (population increasing 5,000,000 p.a.) cease to export vegetable oil—she may have to commence importing.

The British Government’s scheme for growing vast quantities of ground-nuts (peanuts) in East Africa is now a year under way.

It will be remembered that the scheme provided for the development of 3i million acres of new land within five years and the production of something like 600,000 tons of peanuts per year. The scheme is being put into operation only at the cost of large quantities of British capital, manpower and equipment and at the end of the. first year there are only 8,000 acres under cultivation with a pos sible production of 3,000 tons of peanuts.

The scheme has been criticised by many on the score that it is not producing the vegetable fats required by Britain at this acute stage of her economy and that it would have been more satisfactory if only part of the capital, fertiliser and labour had been used in bumping up produc tion on existing farms in the British Commonwealth, and the United Kingdom had confined itself to producing consumer goods.

The fact remains, however, that if the East African plan of large-scale growing of peanuts is proceeded with, within the time that the new Fijian plantations are producing copra, a great deal of vegetable oil will be available to the United King dom from East Africa.