THE FIJI BANANA TRADE.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 158, 5 July 1921, Page 7

THE FIJI BANANA TRADE.

MANY GROWERS DROPPING OUT. UNCERTAIN MARKETS AND HIGH COSTS. PLANTERS BECOME CATTLEMEN. TARIFF FACTOR UNIMPORTANT.

The opinion expressed that the Australian tariff on bananas is going to result in very heavy shipments to New Zealand from Fiji and will mean the ultimate ruin of the Fiji banana industry, is not shared by Mr. D. C. Fraser, the well known Auckland importer who - recently returned from a visit to the Fiji Group. "One good reason against a flood of bananas to this market," remarked Mr. Fraser, in the course of a talk on the subject, "is that they are scarce at present in Fiji. In the first place, they have had an exceptionally cold, wet winter, which has kept the fruit back. I Another very strong factor is that owing i to thee uncertainty of the outside markets, more especially Australia, due to strikes, etc., a lot of the growers have given the game best. Added to this, there is a heavy cost to put bananas on the market compared with a few years ago. Then, bananas could have been sold at 6/ per case, and show a profit to the shipper, whereas now 12/ per case must be realised before the shipper gets bis money back, and this is for the bad months, when bananas in Fiji are worth about one-third of what they will bring in the good months, that is, October, November, and December. There is no getting away from the fact that this winter a lot of the bananas have been very poor, and in tbe interests of the trade generally, I took a trip to Fiji to go into things thoroughly with the shippers at that end. In the first place bananas do not grow as well in the. winter time. They require hot sun to give them a ..nice rounded shape, while owing to the shippers having to pay for dead space on the steamer, they are more inclined to pack thin fruit than fail to fill their allotted space.

THE PACKING PROBLEM. "This, in my opinion, is at the bottom of the whole trouble. Shippers have to guarantee to supply so many cases for shipment each month. If their estimate is short of this quantity, they have to pay for the difference. One would naturally wonder why they would book more space than they could conveniently fill, but they have to do this in the winter months so as to hold their space for tlie good months, otherwise, what they call the "pirate" would come in and reap the benefit of shipping in the" good months, to the detriment of those shippers who ship all the year round. The supervision of the packing of the bananas in Fiji is capable of improvement. There is no doubt certain shippers trust absolutely to the natives and Indians to pack their bananas, buying the fruit at so much per case. This is the reason why small fruit comes forward, but, I am pleased to say, that as a result of my personal observation in Fiji, I am satisfied this system only prevails with some of the smaller shippers. Some of the larger European owned and controlled plantations have a splendid system of supervision, and every care is

taken to see that only good fruit is put in. When I was in Suva I suggested that every grower of fruit should hold a packing license; that extra inspectors should "be appointed and provided with extra fast launches, so that they could drop on the native packers at any time, and if the fruit was not up to the standard, cancel their license for that shipment, that is they would be debarred from shipping any of their fruit unless they had a certificate from the inspector. This scheme is quite feasible, and was favourably considered by those interested. There is no doubt that tho Agricultural Department in Fiji are up-to-date, and have the welfare of the fruit shipping industry at heart. They are willing to listen to any suggestions—in fact, agree to do their very best to improve the trade generally. A FRUIT FLY PARASITE.

"Just before I left Fiji," said Mr. Fraser. " Mr. Simmonds, the Government Entomologist, discovered what he believed to be a parasite to the fruit fly. If this is so, it will mean a tremendous difference to the fruit industry, and will in time remove the obstacles •which afc) present retard the shipping of citrus fruits. If the parasite as dis-

covered by Mr. Simmonds proves to be the right thing,-it will be a boon as far as our Eastern Pacific Islands are concerned. Mr. Simmonds is confident that it will counteract the fruit fly. of the shippers consider the present tariff in Australia has come at the right time, as had the ordinary Australian shipments of bananas come forward there would have been practically no bananas for New Zealand. They are confident that the Australian public will insist on this duty being removed in a very short time, as already the price of bananas in Australia has jumped up from 20/ per case to 40/, which puts bananas entirely beyond the reach of the poorer people. At the present time in Fiji there is practically no new ground planted for bananas owing to the uncertainty of things generally, and were there new plantations planted now it would be 12 months at least before there would be anything available for shipment. Some oi the older shippers have given the game best, and are now going in for cattle dealing, this proving to be a highly profitable pursuit in Fiji.

FIJI A GOOD CATTLE COUNTRY. "The land in Fiji is wonderfully rioh, and can fatten three head ofcattle to the acre. Some portions even more than this, though, of course, some of the high land is not as good. Of late years a lot of the settlers have taken up this branch with, satisfactory results. The Government have established a lot of returned 6oldiers on farms at Tai Levu, about 20 miles from Suva. These are at present hardly far enough advanced to pass any .opinion on them, .but most of the "settlers are optimistic, and are looking forward to the time when an up-to-date dairy factory will be established. Tlie Government has promised to erect" this in the near future. In any ease, Fiji has already proved its value as a cattle country, and ships large quantities to the other island groups. High-priced stud stock has been purchased by a number of cattle growers, and the future of this I industry is practically assured."