Coconut Becomes Main Focus

Known as the "Tree of Life", the Coconut will once more come to the forefront of food security as the Government moves to revamp the once thriving Solomon Islands industry.

The Permanent Secretary for Agriculture and Livestock, Mr. Frank Wickham says the coconut industry is not only an income issue, but one that also directly relates to food security.

Mr Wickham says the coconut will be a special program for the Solomon Islands and rehabilitating it is a serious plan for the Government.

He says the current coconut plantations are quite old, and the country needs to do some serious work on replanting the commodity.

Since everyone in the Solomon Islands rely heavily on the coconut, if nothing is done now, there will be huge gaps in the future.

The Permanent Secretary says Solomon Islands is trying to get youths to get involved in agriculture, and get them interested in the replanting of the old coconut plantations.