BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
The country’s Vapor Heat Treatment (VHT) has been completed, while the Fruit Fly Trial Facility is still under construction.
This means that the country’s long wait to meet international market standard requirements for the export of fruit products will soon be a thing of the past.
Franklyn Wasi, Minister for Agriculture and Livestock (MAL) expressed the above when he delivered his keynote address whilst opening the one-week MAL Annual Planning conference in Honiara on Monday this week at the Honiara Hotel.
He told the participants that the Vapor Heat Treatment (VHT) plant and Fruit Fly Trial Facility are located at the ministry’s Henderson Biosecurity Site.
“I am pleased to provide an update on the eight key policy priorities assigned to the ministry under the Government for National Unity and Transformation (GNUT). These priorities, introduced since GNUT took office, form the bedrock of our sector-wide transformation anchored in inclusive growth, improved market access and food sovereignty,” said Minister Franklyn Wasi.
“Let me now inform you of our progress of the Vapor Heat Treatment (VHT) and Fruit Fly Trial Facility at our Henderson Biosecurity Site. We now have a completed VHT plant and are awaiting final electrical modifications before commissioning by Japanese engineers,” he said.
Wasi added that there is also a fruit fly breeding and heat trial facility under construction to simulate infestations on papaya, mango and melon and to test export treatment protocols.
He emphasized that these facilities are critical in accessing high-value fruit export markets.
The building complex and vapor heat treatment project costs around SB$7 million and is fully funded by SIG through the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL) and the Ministry of Infrastructure Development (MID).
The vapor heat treatment plant was purchased in 2022.
The operation of this treatment facility will enable Solomon Islands to meet international market requirements standards for fruits and vegetables, particularly those that are susceptible to fruit flies.
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