I hail from province of Naitasiri, Fiji Islands and was brought up in a farming community. I graduated with a Diploma in Tropical Agriculture in 2009, then worked with Ministry of Agriculture – Animal health and Production Division from 2010 till date (currently on 3 years study leave). I was based at the Navua Office, providing animal extension and clinical services to the respective province of Serua/Namosi as an Agricultural Technical Officer.

I completed a Bachelor’s Degree with a gold medal from USP for being the most outstanding agriculture graduate of 2018, then accomplished a Masters of Agriculture in 2020.

Working within the livestock sector we are learning that most of our farmers are diverting from livestock farming to crop farming due to high feed cost with very little to no profit, and poor animal performance due to lack of knowledge on diet formulation with available raw ingredients available in the South Pacific for feed formulation and use of enzyme. My Masters research was based on feeding poultry with Moringa Citrifolia as a feed additive to replace it with the use of antibiotics, as presence of antibiotic in poultry meat and products is a growing health concern globally.

• Animal Nutrition
• Livestock feeding
• Poultry Performance - nutrient retention, energy utilisation, gastrointestinal Tract development, egg quality and egg production performance

PhD in Animal Science
Project Title: Wheat particle size and enzyme supplementation in egg-type birds.

Supervisor: Dr Siaka Diarra, University of the South Pacific
Co-Supervisor: Dr Reza Abdollahi, Massey University.

Twitter: @Priya_Lal_88
LinkedIn: Priya Lal
ORCiD: 0000-0002-7416-0336