TIME FOR SOLOMON ISLANDS TO PLANT RICE

PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT

Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i

Editorial

TIME FOR SOLOMON ISLANDS TO PLANT RICE

Solomon Star

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (May 8, 2008) - Let’s face it. The price of rice is not coming down as we all expect. It’s increasing.

Last week’s sharp rise -- from SB$127 [US$18] for a 20kg bag to SB$172 [US$25] -- is just the beginning.

We must now brace ourselves for further increases in the coming months. That’s according to importer Solrice. This continuing price hike was linked to the soaring world prices.

The Government’s attempt to cushion this by removing import taxes on rice has proved not enough.

So what’s next for Solomon Islands? Let’s be realistic. We have to accept the fact the prices of rice are beyond our control. And as long as we rely on imported rice, we will remain at the mercy of overseas growers.

Grow our own rice? That’s one obvious solution. But if we are to meet local demand, it means large-scale rice farming. The current small-scale farming undertaken by families and communities, with the help of the Taiwanese Agriculture Mission, is much appreciated. But the initiative seems not to be gaining ground. There were numerous examples that showed people were only interested in the undertaking during the initial stages.

As time went on, their interest waned and the rice farms became bushes again. In light of the soaring world prices, it’s time the Government, with the assistance of Taiwan, consider going into large-scale commercial farming. That’s the only we can meet the local demand.

Secondly, we still have plenty of land to grow cassava, kumara (sweet potato), taro, yam and pana (root crop similar to yam). The rice price hike provides an opportunity to cut down on rice consumption and return to traditional root crops.

We have plenty of them in the villages.

But unreliable transportation is making it hard for farmers to bring their produces to urban centers like Honiara.

Good and reliable transport ensures we have a steady supply of root crops from the villages. There’s no easy and immediate solution to this sudden increase of rice price.

However, we can lessen our reliance on rice by turning to our local root crops.

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