On Thursday, November 13, 2025, The Honourable Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka, Prime Minister of the Republic of Fiji, graciously visited NARO. He was accompanied by a delegation that included: Dr. Raijeli Taga, Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs; Ms. Kelera Savu, Chargé d'Affaires ad interim at the Fiji Embassy Tokyo; Mr. Mosese Turagarua Waibuta, Principal Policy Officer at the Office of the Prime Minister; and Ms. Adi Arieta Tegei Latianara, Principal Foreign Service Officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
First, Dr. KYUMA Kazuo, President of NARO, delivered welcome remarks and a presentation outlining NARO's organization and research achievements, followed by a discussion session. During the discussion, Prime Minister Rabuka expressed interest in learning about NARO's cutting-edge research achievements to address global challenges such as population growth. Additionally, the topic on climate change highlighted the serious challenge posed by sea level rise, which is a concern also in Fiji.
Subsequently, the group visited the Incubation Laboratory (Robotics Agro-environment Emulator) at the Research Center for Agricultural Information Technology to observe the reproduction of various meteorological conditions in the Emulator and how the system measures the effects of those conditions on crop traits. After that, at the NARO Genebank of the Research Center of Genetic Resources, they received an explanation about the collection projects of crop seeds from various parts of the world, and then toured the Genebank including the low-temperature storage facilities of seeds for distribution.
