Cover Story
And in Agriculture...Coffee Producers Focus on Quality
Before targetting more export markets
"Wine producers don¹t try to produce enormous quantities of cheap wine, but concentrate on producing a good vintage," Gregoire Baudonnel, agricultural economist at the Chamber of Agriculture in Noumea, is talking about coffee. Like wine-makers he says, coffee producers are now concentrating on quality.
Coffee has become a fashionable product with emphasis on top varieties. Most of New Caledonia's coffee growers are focusing on the expensive arabica varieties, of Leroy and Bourbon rouge, using mechanised production methods to reduce high labour costs. The sector is still in its early stages since much of the coffee was planted around three years ago and the first harvests are only just beginning. At the moment it is sold on the local market and exported to Europe, mainly France. But now that the first plantations are established, the product should reach the Japanese and United States markets in the next three years.
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Venison
Venison is another product that has developed significantly over the past
three years, and is expected to do well in the next few years. Last year,
250 tonnes were slaughtered compared to around 100 tonnes in 1998. Since the
outbreak of mad cow disease, Europeans prefer meat with a more natural
aspect in terms of the way the animals are fed and looked after, says
Baudonnel.
Being a game meat, venison has a healthy, natural image. The prices for venison went up over the past two years, but will probably start falling soon since the initial anxiety of mad cow disease is wearing off.
The country has strong competition from New Zealand in this market. But a big advantage is that non-European countries can¹t export game meat, including venison, to Europe during the non-hunting season. New Caledonia is exempt because of its French connection. It therefore has the whole European market to itself for a period.
Aquaculture In aquaculture, prawn farming has a lot of room for expansion. Consumption is increasing and there is plenty of demand from Japan, Europe and Australia, but production has stagnated. The sector is looking for investors especially for smaller farms, which are doing better than the bigger, more costly operations at present.
Fruits and
vegetables
In the fruit and vegetable sector, litchis are set to become a big export
product once they are properly established. Small quantities have been
exported to New Zealand and Japan.
The emphasis is currently on improving techniques using Taiwanese expertise.
This will considerably increase production. The techniques will see the
current volume of one to two tonnes a hectare leap to around 10 to 15
tonnes. As well as increasing revenue this will allow prices to be more
attractive and enable expansion to other markets like Taiwan and China in
the off season, says Baudonnel.
Onions
Another new export product with a good potential for growth is onions, which
New Caledonia began exporting to Japan last year. Squash is also exported to
Japan, but doesn't fetch very high prices.
The export of aubergines and green peppers is hindered by the more lucrative local market, and farmers are not in a hurry to invest in technology and techniques necessary to achieve better standards for export. However, if they don't develop export markets now, it may be too late to access them later.
Bananas
The bunchy top virus, which appeared two years ago, is still menacing banana
cultivation.
Although the virus is confined to a particular zone, it has so far eluded efforts to eradicate it. Some people believe the authorities may need to reconsider the stringent eradication measures used. As bananas are an important food source for many Pacific Islanders living in New Caledonia, social and cultural implications need to be taken into account. People may cooperate better if the rules are adjusted accordingly.
