page_title: Agriculture in Tonga
section_title: Modern Farming
hierarchical_section_title: Agriculture in Tonga / History / Modern Farming
caption_attribution_description: English: First Niuatoputapu Agricultural Farm at 'Ahofakataha - experimental yam garden (Niuatoputapu island, Tonga) Français&#160;: Jardin expérimental d'ignames au sein de la première ferme agricole sur l'île de Niuatoputapu (Tonga), à 'Ahofakataha
context_page_description: The Agriculture of the Tongan Archipelago is largely based on the farming of yams, squash, and root crops. Agriculture consists of 16–29.9% of Tonga's GDP, 34% of its labour force, and about 50% of its exports. Since the 1980s, Tonga's agricultural exports expanded to include vanilla, watermelons, sugar, and legumes.
  With the expansion of the archipelago's population, climate change, and competitive markets, Tonga has trouble keeping up with competitive demand.
context_section_description: Following European influence, subsistence farming has been replaced by what is called "semi-permanent", or commercial farming.
  Although Tonga lacks connectivity between its islands and advanced agricultural technologies, it retains its status as a prominent producer of crops for East Asian and Oceanian countries. Today, Tonga produces 60% of New Zealand's watermelon imports, and has been producing squash for Japan and South Korea since the mid-1980s, although overproduction of the crop has greatly reduced its value and thus the amount of squash produced.
caption: First Niuatoputapu Agricultural Farm at 'Ahofakataha - experimental yam garden
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