What began as a small vision by the late Ram Karan in 1987 has matured into one of Fiji’s largest duck producers, now operated by his daughter, Ashika Karan. Karan’s Farm on a ten‑acre property in the Central Division can house up to 20,000 ducks and 800 chickens and has become a major live‑bird supplier across the region, the family says.
Under Ashika’s stewardship the enterprise remains a compact, family‑run operation: two staff oversee day‑to‑day work across the property, which is organised into three distinct production phases—breeding, selling and hatchlings. “The ducks are divided into three stages, one for breeding, another for selling, and lastly for ducklings,” Ms Karan explained, outlining the farm’s effort to maintain a steady pipeline of stock for buyers.
Karan’s Farm focuses on live sales only, operating without an on‑site slaughterhouse. “We only supply livestock because we don’t have a slaughterhouse,” Ms Karan said, adding that the farm sells directly to religious leaders and halal processors as well as through a market stall and farm‑gate sales. Named customers include Imams and Arif Halal, reflecting the niche the business has secured among buyers who prefer or require live birds.
Last year Ms Karan received public recognition for her role in the sector, being honoured at the Women in Agriculture Symposium as the largest duck supplier—an accolade that highlights both the farm’s scale and her prominence as a woman leading an agricultural business in Fiji. Even so, the operation faces clear economic pressures: the farm’s price list ranges from $15 to $30 per bird depending on sex, but Ms Karan says the business requires roughly $4,000 each week to cover operating costs.
Those figures put the farm’s economic reality into sharper relief at a time when farmers across Fiji have been publicly raising concerns about falling productivity and fragile incomes since the Covid‑19 pandemic. Earlier reporting captured calls from agriculturalists for greater government support—subsidies, grants and investment in infrastructure—to help farms stay viable. Karan’s Farm, with its high overhead and dependence on live sales, illustrates why some producers have pushed for enhanced processing facilities and financial assistance to improve margins and market access.
The lack of an on‑site slaughterhouse constrains Karan’s market options and adds logistical barriers for buyers who require processed products. Industry advocates say investment in processing capacity would help suppliers like Karan’s Farm diversify sales channels and capture more value locally; Ms Karan’s experience underscores that case even as she emphasises the farm’s role in the community and its contribution to the Central Division’s poultry supply.
As the farm continues under family management, its combination of scale, recognition and tight finances makes it a notable example of both opportunity and vulnerability in Fiji’s poultry sector—highlighting the balancing act between meeting steady demand and covering substantial weekly running costs.
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