Borer decreases yield

By ELIZABETH VUVU

 

EAST New Britain’s economy has been devastated by the cocoa pod borer since it first showed up in 2005, deputy governor Boniface Setavo told The National yesterday.

Setavo said cocoa production in the province had dropped from 28,000 tonnes two years ago to 8,000 tonnes – a drastic drop of 20,000 tonnes which he attributed in part to the CPB.

This equated to a loss of income to ENB of around K150 million, he said.

He said CPB had taken a toll on the lives of many rural cocoa farmers who contribute the most to the total cocoa production in the province.

 “This is a disaster quite diffe­rent to the 1994 twin volcanic disasters, but it has an equal or greater impact that has affected many rural farmers who depend exclusively on income from cocoa,” Setavo said.

He said the loss of this revenue had multiple effects on other economies in the province and with such a huge socio-economic effect, it was important that the national government must save the industry by injecting much needed funds.

Setavo also indicated that the World Bank would be injecting much-needed funds for a nationwide CPB eradication programme.

He said these funds must be channelled through the legally established institutions charged with the responsibility of resurrecting the industry.

Setavo supported calls made by the PNG Growers Association to the minister for agriculture and livestock to look into the appointment of a representative board to the Cocoa Board.

He said this board should concern itself with quality control and other regulatory measures and leave the rest of the activities to the other participants in the industry.

ENB currently has a centre point of coordination and implementation of much needed funds for the CPB eradication programme called the provincial CPB committee.

He suggested that the committee should be the focal point for coordination of the different sectors.

Currently, the growers were not seeing much assistance and those farmers receiving some help were being confused by different agencies competing to provide service to them, he said.

Setavo expressed some delight in the farmers’ resilience to CPB and who had learnt and were now diversifying into other short, medium and long term crops.

The province is witnessing the emergence of a diversified agro-based economy based on alternate crops which has been possible through a number of integrated projects including Toriu Headwaters, Illi Stand Alone, Illi Wawas, Suikoi, Memalo and Mukus-Tolo development pro­jects which would see major developments in oil palm, cocoa, balsa and reforestation.