Shortage Worries

Beef Cattle

Fiji Butchers

F’rom a Fiji Correspondent Fiji has run into a local beef shortage which has not only caused prices to rise, but has led to a rise in the Colony’s im ported meat bill. The public at large was unaware of any shortage until early this year, when a Lautoka butcher and

small goods processor imported

more than five tons of beef sides from New Zealand to meet the demand.

HE announced then that he would have to import even bigger luantities very soon, and that he vould have to rely, to a great extent, in imports for several years to come.

Te could see no end to the shortage mless large-scale development of icef was undertaken.

But even moves for such develop nent would not provide immediate elief, for beef cattle cannot he nought to maturity overnight. It akes two years to develop a young least for the slaughter yard, unless it s killed as a vealer.

Three Suva butchers also told a itory of difficulty in finding supplies.

Ml of them had brought in beef Tom New Zealand in an effort to neet the demand. One of them re lorted that he had scoured the :ountryside and had only been able o pick up a few head of cattle.

Tough But Tasty

Fiji butchers largely have not had o cater for a selective type of mstomer. Thus any sort of cattle are jood enough for beef. Butchers in he main use dairy animals which lave outlived their life as milk pro lucers or bullocks whose days of lulling a plough in the canefields are iver. Tough meat, yes, but not dis iked by the Fijians, who can make it nto tasty stews.

Viti Levu, the main island, has luffered chiefly through,the shortage, "or some reason there are not as nany dairy cattle to slaughter, and n the canefields the tractor, operated in a co-operative basis, is slowly lusting the bullock.

The coconut plantations of Vanua -evu and Taveuni are believed to be

carrying many head of cattle, for the planters are realising, as farmers in New Zealand and Australia did years ago, that cattle are handy for keep ing down rank growth. And they can be turned into extra cash when needed.

There are practical difficulties in the way of getting live cattle from Vanua Levu and Taveuni to Viti Levu, simply because the Colony’s inter-island ships are not designed for the large-scale carriage of cattle.

Small Farms There are schemes afoot to raise beef cattle on small farms. There are several such farms established in the

south-east area of Viti Levu. Farmers, encouraged by the Department of Agriculture, are producing a good type of animal for slaughter when about two years old, and by breed ing properly they may be assured of a good supply of young animals for the future.

Fiji’s land laws made it difficult for individuals to undertake cattle ranch ing in a big way. One butcher had a flourishing scheme in the interior of Viti Levu and on 4,000 acres had built up a herd of 600 head. He had plans eventually to run a herd of 1,000 head to give a constant supply to his slaughter yards.

But his ranch was on native land

and it went back into reserve. The herd was run down as no one offered to take it from the butcher as a go ing concern.

Land is available and many Indian farmers would like to use it to run cattle. But as it is native reserve land it can only be used by the Fijians themselves unless somebody is really keen and is prepared to wait for a year or two while all the red tape is unravelled to give him a lease.

Even then, the lease is generally short-term, which does not give a prospective farmer much incentive to outlay the money necessary to build up a cattle ranch.

So, the human population is growing, but the cattle population is not keeping pace. The chances are that as far as beef is concerned Fiji will be depending on New Zea land for many years.