The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MALD) led by Minister Franklyn Derek Wasi on Tuesday conducted a joint site visit with the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Solomon Islands, His Excellency Cai Weiming, to key agricultural development facilities in and around Honiara.
The delegation visited two of MALD’s agricultural demonstration and research sites at the King George Sixth Farm (KGVI Farm) and Tenaru Field Experiment Station including two privately owned sites at Dodo Creek and Sape Farm.
The visit, held on the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, demonstrates the growing cooperation between Solomon Islands and China in the agricultural sector.
Minister Wasi welcomed the Ambassador and acknowledged the significance of the visit, noting that choosing to visit agricultural facilities on the first day of the Lunar New Year reflects the importance China places on agriculture and its partnership with Solomon Islands.
“Your Excellency, on behalf of MALD, I sincerely acknowledge your visit to our KGVI Farm today.
“As today marks the first day of the Chinese New Year, I extend warm New Year greetings to you, your embassy officials, and the people of the great nation of China.
“Your visit to our demonstration sites on this special day symbolizes the importance China places on agriculture.”
MALD intends to further develop its demonstration facilities, with plans to scale them up into a fully-fledged Research Centre.
“We believe that establishing such a centre will encourage stronger collaboration with our overseas partners, allowing us to learn new ideas and translate them into practical field activities to improve production for our farmers,” he said.
The proposed Research Centre aims to enhance collaboration with international partners, facilitate knowledge exchange, and introduce innovative farming techniques to improve productivity for local farmers.
As part of this vision, MALD hopes to invite technical experts from China to assist in establishing modern demonstration and training facilities focusing on vegetables, root crops, rice, and fruit trees.
Future initiatives will also incorporate green energy applications, improved post-harvest handling systems, and value-adding processes to strengthen the agricultural value chain.
In his remarks, Ambassador Cai Weiming extended Lunar New Year greetings and reaffirmed China’s commitment to practical agricultural cooperation with Solomon Islands.
“This morning marks the first day of the Chinese New Year. I usually choose to visit different places on the first day of the New Year, and this year I chose to visit agricultural facilities.
“This demonstrates the importance we attach to agricultural cooperation between China and Solomon Islands,” he said.
H.E Weiming emphasized that China attaches great importance to agricultural cooperation and will continue to explore practical projects that deliver tangible outcomes.
Although some of the facilities visited are modest in size, he expressed confidence in their potential and reaffirmed China’s commitment to strengthening the partnership.
The joint site visits reflect the deepening bilateral relationship between Solomon Islands and China, particularly in the agricultural sector.
Both parties expressed optimism about expanding technical cooperation, building institutional capacity, and improving agricultural productivity to support rural livelihoods and national development.
– MALD Press
