Simbu welcomes agriculture support services project

By SOLDIER BURUKA of DAL

 

A project implementation agreement has been signed for an agriculture extension project in the Simbu province.

Officials from the Department of Agriculture and Livestock and the Simbu administration signed the agreement in Port Moresby recently for the Smallholder Support Services Expansion Project, which is to be funded under New Zealand Aid.

 The Department of National Planning and Monitoring is the other signatory to the agreement.

The agreement basically reaffirms that the Simbu administration will utilise the funding made available through grants from NZAid and other sources to promote effective agriculture support services delivery system to smallholder farmers.

The project is aimed at contributing to the overall goal of an improved quality of life for smallholder farmers and their families by increasing their access to agriculture support services. It covers priority areas such as food crop production, livestock, farming systems management, input supplies, marketing, training and awareness, and community development.

The provincial division of agriculture and livestock will take charge in implementing the project and will establish a support services contract facility, management unit and a steering committee. A key component of the project will be capacity building for agricultural staff and support service providers in the province.

At the signing of the agreement at DAL headquarters, witnessed by Chimbu Governor Fr John Garia, all parties pledged to work closely in supporting the project.

DAL Secretary Anton Benjamin said DAL as the executing agency would ensure that funding was made available for the next two years and that the project ran smoothly.

 He said donor agencies were mindful of how their funds were spent and urged the recipients to instill strict accountability in use of funds.

 The project will have an impact in the rural communities especially in extension and agriculture services delivery.

Simbu administrator Joe Kunda Naur said the project was an excellent opportunity to boost agriculture development and urged the provincial government to give its full support.

 He was confident that his administration had the capability to implement the project, which will be launched in two districts.

Fr Garia welcomed the project and assured the administration and DAL that his government would give its support.

He said agriculture was important for the province and such projects must have a positive impact.

 

 

 

 

Villagers hail kaukau testing technology

Caption:  Meteyufa farmers happily harvesting the PT Trial

 

By DORCAS HOMARE of NARI

 

Sweet potato or kaukau farmers at Meteyufa village near Goroka were proud harvesters of improved kaukau yields of a research trial planted from clean planting materials developed through a new technology known as pathogen testing.

The trial,  by the National Agricultural Research Institute’s Highlands Regional Research Centre at Aiyura, Eastern Highlands, which was planted late last year, had both pathogen tested (PT) and non-pathogen Tested (NPT) planting materials.

The comparative trial was conducted to demonstrate the advantage of PT materials over non-PT materials in terms of yield differences.

PT materials are planting materials of kaukau that are tested to be clean from diseases such as scab and scurf, but most importantly viral diseases.

Research in Australia and elsewhere has shown that complexities of viruses are perhaps a major contributing factor and so far three major virus strains have been identified in the kaukau production systems in PNG.

 Viruses are microscopic pathogens and are systemic.

They thrive in the plant from generation to generation and silently contribute to yield decline, a problem which could be overcome by the use of the PT materials.

In 2008, a PT scheme was established in PNG to improve sweet potato yield and quality by removing virus and virus-like organisms.

The PT scheme includes germplasm maintenance, foundation seed production, reselection, heat treatment, meristem culture, virus indexing using indicator plants, Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and/or molecular methods. In removing viruses from the plant, the PT scheme also frees plants from other diseases such as scab and scurf and pests like gall mites and weevils whose eggs are deposited on the vines and leaves.

The PT comparison trial at Meteyufa was part of an ACIAR (Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research) funded project which is investigating the impact of pests and diseases on sweet potato in PNG cropping systems.

NARI and the Fresh Produce Development Agency (FPDA), PNG, are collaborating with the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and fisheries (QDPI&F), Australia, to trial out and disseminate information on the PT technology to farmers in the Western Highlands and Eastern Highlands provinces.

As part of field demonstration of the technology to farmers, FPDA, through mini field demonstration trials, has distributed more than 500 PT cuttings to farmers for cultivation at various sites in both the Eastern Highlands and Western Highlands provinces.

Meteyufa village is an agriculturally dynamic area in Eastern Highlands with many different agricultural activities taking place.

Sweet potato is one of the most-dominant commercial crops the village cultivates.

A Meteyufa commercial farmer, Aku Ulo, noticed yield decline in his sweet potato farms and expressed it in 2009.

 In response, NARI and FPDA set up the comparative trial at the village to demonstrate that planting of PT materials can help improve his kaukau yield.

The trial, which lasted about four months, was harvested on Dec 15, 2009.

 Fifteen farmers from the village as well as president of the Eastern Highlands Women in Agriculture (WiA), Margaret Seko, and another member of the group, Jennifer Kena, participated in the harvest and witnessed improvements that can be derived from the PT technology.

They observed huge yield differences.

One of the farmers, Tom Soles said there were obvious differences between the PT and non-PT tubers in their shapes, sizes and general yield.

He said he was astonished to see much better yields from PT materials as compared to those by non-PT materials.

With excitement, other farmers requested for PT materials to be distributed.

The trial was hailed a success as it achieved its goal of demonstrating the advantages of the PT technology to the farmers.

From the preliminary results, it is envisaged that the project is likely to result in higher productivity through increased overall yield, improved tuber shape and flesh colour, resulting in greater market appeal.

Currently, the PT project is in the phase of cleaning up all the commercial sweet potato varieties from the Eastern Highlands and Western Highlands provinces.

The cleaning process is undertaken at the NARI tissue culture laboratory in Aiyura.

After the cleaning process, the clean materials will be re-introduced to the farmers for cultivation.

 

 

 

 

Kompiam sets out to develop coffee industry

Caption: Eager…Kompiam Cooperative Society Farmers at the CIC coffee nursery site during their visit

 

Story and picture by YVONNE NGUTLICK of CIC

 

Kompiam district in the Enga Province is gearing up to set the pace for its coffee industry as plans progress.

Kompiam district is located northeast of Enga Province.

 It is one of two leading coffee producing districts in the Province.

The other is Wapanemanda district.

Steep slopes in the area pose strong agricultural pressure on the land and its people.

 Incomes are derived primarily from coffee and sale fresh produce.

The Kompiam Cooperative Society has big plans to service its district by establishing central coffee nurseries, rehabilitating existing tree-stock, in-filling and gradually progress its coffee industry backed with financial support from local MP John Pundari.

Kompiam District produces on average about 20,000 bags of parchment coffee annually, valued at K5 million.

Subsequent to a basic coffee training on nursery establishment and harvest and processing late last year 2009, the Kompiam Cooperative Society refurbished its drive to work on coffee.

The Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) facilitated training.

Then, a recent visit to the CIC research division in Aiyura, Eastern Highlands province to get a glimpse of the practicalities of coffee production saw a group of keen farmers adamant and eager to reap the blessings of the crop.

The trip was also intended to gain technical expertise and advice coffee production.

 

 

 

FW: InterOil announces purchase of second drilling rig

PORT MORESBY, February 9, 2010 -- InterOil Corporation has announced it has purchased a second drilling rig.

The 1,500 horsepower heliportable “triple” rig with top drive was originally built by Parker Drilling. Total cash consideration for the rig and an extensive inventory of drilling and oil field service equipment, currently located in New Zealand, is NZD $6.5 million (approximately US$4.5 million).

The rig specifications are:

• OIME SL-1500 horsepower heliportable “triple” rig.
• Tesco 500 ton top drive.
• Two 1,300 hp mud pumps, both 5 inch and 3 1/2 inch drill pipe.
• 60 ton crane and 40 ton all terrain crane.

The new rig is capable of drilling to 16,500 vertical feet and of drilling longer horizontal sections than the company’s current rig.

The added depth capacity of this rig, in addition to the top drive system, is expected to add flexibility and efficiency to our drilling operations.

The additional rig is not only suitable for development of the Elk/Antelope field, but also adds increased depth capacity and well design versatility to our exploration program.

The rig is capable of tripping drill pipe in “triples,” which InterOil believes will lead to significantly shorter drilling times.

 Two rigs in the field are expected to add efficiency to our overall drilling operations as many of the services and equipment can be shared across both rigs.

The Company anticipates moving the rig to PNG in the second quarter of this year following completion of the transaction and refurbishment of tubular and other rotating equipment.

InterOil chairman and CEO Phil Mulacek stated: “We are very satisfied with the acquisition of the InterOil’s second rig which is outstanding in terms of design and capabilities and is particularly well suited for operations in the area in which our development and exploration activities are being conducted.”

About InterOil

InterOil Corporation is developing a vertically integrated energy business whose primary focus is Papua New Guinea and the surrounding region. InterOil’s assets consist of petroleum licenses covering about 3.9 million acres, an oil refinery, and retail and commercial distribution facilities, all located in Papua New Guinea. In addition, InterOil is a shareholder in a joint venture established to construct an LNG plant on a site adjacent to InterOil’s refinery in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

InterOil’s common shares trade on the NYSE in US dollars.

For further in formation please contact

Susuve Laumaea

Senior Manager Media Relations InterOil Corporation

Ph: (675) 321 7040

Mobile: 675-72013870

Email: susuve.laumaea@interoil.com  

 

Oral language Further preserved at University of Goroka

Associate Professor Steven Bird with two workshop participants learning how to use the digital voice recorders

Mr Philip Tama from the University of Goroka's Language & Literature department recording members of the Alekano Gako Oti'tive group

On Monday, February 8, 2010, a three-day workshop on the preservation of indigenous linguistic heritage via Basic Oral Language Documentation (BOLD) was opened at the University of Goroka. The workshop is an exciting step forward from the study of the Alekano language offered to students by the Language and Literature department of UOG.

The University of Goroka is participating in the workshop as part of the BOLD project.

Visiting academic and facilitator Associate Professor Steven Bird, from the University of Melbourne, was at UOG to conduct the workshop voluntarily to students and staff from the Language and Literature Department of the University.

Day one involved demonstration on the use of a digital voice recorder, 35 of which have been donated by Associate Professor Bird to the Language and Literature department through the generosity of Olympus.

Participants also had practical lessons on how to use the recorders, and practised on each other the new techniques learnt.

The workshop was also attended by representatives of the Alekano Gako Oti’tive (Alekano language revitalisation group) and three volunteers from the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL).

Vice Chancellor of the University of Goroka Dr Gairo Onagi officially opened the workshop by stating that: “language is very important to us as it is life.”

Dr Onagi thanked Associate Professor Bird for his interest in coming to UOG and welcomed him to the campus.

He was grateful that Associate Professor Bird could teach staff and students new technology and methodology to record and preserve languages.

Dr Onagi challenged the workshop participants to learn more about their culture via language technology and innovation.

He ended by telling participants that “this is the salvation to dying languages”.

Associate Professor Bird stated that language preservation was at a very exciting moment as it has a lot of new technological solutions appropriate to capture languages before they became extinct.

He was glad to see the university’s support for languages and culture, and was appreciative to help the University of Goroka achieve its vision of language promotion and the study and preservation of Melanesian culture.

The workshop continues until Wednesday, February 10, 2010.

For more information on the BOLD project and the workshop visit http://boldpng.info/

Interesting statistics

From PAUL OATES boonah.vista1@bigpond.com

Interesting statistics

http://www.worldometers.info/

Oral language Further preserved at University of Goroka

On Monday, February 8,  2010, a three-day workshop on the preservation of indigenous linguistic heritage via Basic Oral Language Documentation (BOLD) was opened at the University of Goroka.  The workshop is an exciting step forward from the study of the Alekano language offered to students by the Language and Literature department of UOG. 

The University of Goroka is participating in the workshop as part of the BOLD project.

 Visiting academic and facilitator Associate Professor Steven Bird, from the University of Melbourne, was at UOG to conduct the workshop voluntarily to students and staff from the Language and Literature Department of the University. 

 Day one involved demonstration on the use of a digital voice recorder, 35 of which have been donated by Associate Professor Bird to the Language and Literature department through the generosity of Olympus. 

 Participants also had practical lessons on how to use the recorders, and practised on each other the new techniques learnt. 

 The workshop was also attended by representatives of the Alekano Gako Oti’tive (Alekano language revitalisation group) and three volunteers from the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL). 

 Vice Chancellor of the University of Goroka Dr Gairo Onagi officially opened the workshop by stating that: “language is very important to us as it is life.” 

Dr Onagi thanked Associate Professor Bird for his interest in coming to UOG and welcomed him to the campus. 

 He was grateful that Associate Professor Bird could teach staff and students new technology and methodology to record and preserve languages. 

Dr Onagi challenged the workshop participants to learn more about their culture via language technology and innovation. 

He ended by telling participants that “this is the salvation to dying languages”.

 Associate Professor Bird stated that language preservation was at a very exciting moment as it has a lot of new technological solutions appropriate to capture languages before they became extinct. 

He was glad to see the university’s support for languages and culture, and was appreciative to help the University of Goroka achieve its vision of language promotion and the study and preservation of Melanesian culture.

 The workshop continues until Wednesday, February 10,  2010. 

 For more information on the BOLD project and the workshop visit http://boldpng.info/