Nadi Bay Herbs: A Success Story

basil seedlings at the nursery

Nadi Bay Herbs has been exporting herb to NZ since 1992, the farm is 47 acres of which 15 acres are in full production.The main export crop is basil which is processed and sold on the market. Ranges of other herbs are also exported and sold within Fiji the Company supply to hotels, resorts and the locals.

Recently I visited the farm and had an opportunity to speak with Mr John Kemp the owner of this successful business. They have been rebuilding their farm after they were badly hit by cyclone last year where most of the infrastructure were critically damaged.

They export basil which is a core produce of the farm to New Zealand at a volume of over 50 tonnes yearly. Apart from basil also lemon grass is exported. 

Even though this is a herb farm, they also farm tomatoes, capsicum, lettuce on the side for some of their local clients.

NBH major market are overseas and their focus has been for export in their production. I asked Mr Kemp why they have heavily focused on export and he said this words, 

" to sell local we have higher overhead costs because we deliver our clients on a daily basis and above all we have bad paying clients which incur bad debts. Even-though they are hotels they still run up their accounts and never pay up, that's why we stopped as it uneconomical to continue'

This is a good lesson to us farmers who have clients that you run after for payment. For instance if you total your extra costs like telephone  fuel, legal, etc that you incur to recover your debts, eventually it turns out to be the same as your recovered debt. What a waste and this is why we farmers need to be wise and alert not to be burdened by bad debtors and it is always good to have cash transactions to avoid all this hassle.

I noticed that alot of women worked as laborers and asked Mr Kemp why was that, he answered saying that he has a strict scheduling to be followed and only women are able to meet this. He goes on to say that women are more disciplined than men and he has had men as supervisors but could not cope with the demand from his business. 

This trait of women is a fact and they tend to be more careful and cautious when they handle plants from the nursery to the fields and the harvesting. We men are challenged through this fact and need to be more disciplined in all the areas of our lives especially if we are running a farm to support our family.

One significant point raised to me was that soil color at the farm are starting to change from red to be more darker. Mr Kemp said that he does not farm the herbs but rather farms the soil. He at the moment is nearly fully organic as all ingredients for fertilizers are green and brown materials with sugar mill waste and poultry manure . He doesn't use alot of poultry manure as it is too acidic and increases soil acidity. This is good to know as we use alot of poultry manure in the central division little do we realize the effect it has. Soil testing is done regularly in his farm and this is how concerned he is on how healthy is his farm soil.

Apart from the above discussions, a farm of such magnitude needs soil health to be monitored and nurtured to give a nutrient balance thus supporting plant health better. 

Lessons from NBH:

1. Have a farm plan and strictly follow it
2. Women are more Reliable
3. Grow your soil for a sustainable future
4. Practice organic farming principles as it lowers costs..