Finding a sheep for the islands

A SHEEP breeding venture, which have economic benefits throughout the Pacific Islands, has been hailed as a success. While the sheep have been bred for Fiji, agricultural experts consider they will easily adapt to many islands in the region.

The Fiji Ministry of Primary Indus-

tries has announced that 10 years of experiments have proved a success. In 1979 Black-bellied Barbados sheep were imported from the United States and bred with Australian sheep. The Fiji experiment involved Wiltshire Horn crossbreeds and the programme has been

jointly funded by Fiji and Australia.

The idea behind the scheme was to

develop a tropical-haired sheep, bred for

Fiji’s climate and capable of supplying

good quality mutton the emphasis was

on lean meat with good flavour. The mob, which originally was to have its

quarantine lifted next year but this may be extended, promises to produce an ideal sheep for small-holders since it will mix well with goats and coconut trees, and does not eat taro leaves, Mutton will have a ready market among the Muslims in Fiji, as well as with Hindus and ethnic Fijians. Already there has been a great deal of interest shown by other Pacific nations. The sheep, by their very size, are far better suited for island life than cattle, Fiji has 3850 of the new sheep breed at its three government stations. The animals are being reared in different areas of Fiji to evaluate their adaptability to various climates. Two of the stations, Nawaicoba and Wainigata, offered a good contrast: the former is a dry-zone research facility near Nadi while the lat ter is in the wet zone on the second largest island of Vanua Levu. □