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Dr. Asifo O. Ajuyah,
This is a reply to Dr. E. F. Guèye's query (see Comment 1 on the Lead paper 4).
The only other type of poultry in the region of numerical significance is Duck, and Fiji has over 85 % of the total duck population. There are 135,935 ducks distributed on 17,784 on-commercial farms in Fiji, or 7-8 ducks per farm or family. The major duck producing divisions in the country are, Western, Northern and Central divisions. However, approximately 54.4% of total farms and 50.4% of the total duck population are located in the Western division. The distribution of duck farms in the country parallels ethnicity, for example 58.9% of the farmers in the Western division are Fijian Indians, and duck curry is a prime Indian delicacy.
The three common systems of production are full confinement in urban areas, and partial confinement or free ranging in rural areas. Depending on system of production scratch feed may be provided, eggs are hatch naturally and there is very high demand for live duck by restaurants and individuals. A duck curry chicken of similar serve is 45% more expensive than chicken curry at US$ 2.50 in an average restaurant. There is a small market for duck eggs by the small Asian community (0.3% of the population of 0.8 million).
In other countries in the region, i.e. Samoa, Tonga, etc., the low distribution of duck is as a result of little demand for duck meat (no cultural affinity). However, in supermarkets in these countries there are processed frozen whole duck from USA, New-Zealand, which might indicate the possibility of a niche market.
If subscribers need more information on duck production systems and disease please let me know.
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