SUVA, March 22 (Xinhua) -- The Fijian government is working to revive the ailing coconut industry in the rural parts of the island nation, government officials have said.

According to a Fijian government release on Friday, Fiji's Minister for Agriculture, Rural and Maritime Development, Waterways and Environment Doctor Mahendra Reddy delivered speech while attending the Coconut Day Celebrations on Taveuni, the third-largest island in Fiji on Thursday.

With the theme "Nutrition, Health and Wealth", the event was held to provide an opportunity to celebrate and promote, create interest in, and strengthen Fiji's ailing coconut industry.

Reddy said that the Ministry of Agriculture acknowledged the importance of the coconut industry, which is also known as the tree of life for rural Fijians.

"Through its Crop Extension Services and Research Division, the ministry promotes the overall development of coconut as part of a farming system, whilst focusing on the rehabilitation of existing fields and plantations," Reddy said.

Apart from generating income and alleviating poverty, coconuts help to sustain household food needs and nutrition security, he said, adding that around 120,000 of Fiji's rural population depended on the coconut industry as their main source of food and livelihood.

Low production has been attributed to senile plantations as 40 percent of trees in Fiji were unproductive. Other factors leading to the ailness of the industry include fluctuation in copra prices, high production costs, shortage of copra cutters, lack of interest among the younger generation, frequent cyclones and other catastrophic weather events, and competition from other lucrative cash crops.

The production of Virgin coconut oil (VCO) on the other hand was rapidly gaining popularity in rural and maritime communities. Copra remains the most traded coconut commodity in the country as Fiji has around 10 million coconut trees scattered around an area of approximately 65,000 hectares of land.