Government moves to promote citrus industry

The Government will be moving to promote PNG's fledgling citrus industry in a big way, says Agriculture and Livestock Minister.

An impressed Simon said this after visiting the orange orchard of Agriculture and Livestock Secretary, Daniel Kombuk, in the Wahgi Valley of Jiwaka on Sunday (Sept 27, 2020).

Kombuk, PNG's leading breeder and farmer of citrus, grows Israeli and California hybrid oranges in the Wahgi Valley.

Hundreds of people are now growing oranges, purchased from Kombuk's nursery at Aviamp and at Minj, as a cash crop.

Minister Simon said the monetary gains, from just one tree alone, at 250kg per year, were significant for this  sleeping giant import replacement industry.

He said oranges were very expensive in Port Moresby supermarkets, selling as high as K40 for just six, when higher quality ones were being grown in the Highlands.

He urged Papua New Guineans to start growing oranges and in their backyards as a cash crop.

True to form, Simon, himself a farmer, ordered 10,000 orange seedlings to be grown in his Maprik District in East Sepik Province.

A visit to Nowek Coffee Factory in Goroka

 

Nowek Coffee Factory General-Manager, Joe Shelley, takes us through the factory process from factory door to green bean ready for export.

The factory is at Kamaliki just outside of Goroka along the Highlands Highway.

 He also shows us what Nowek is doing to prop up PNG's declining coffee production, including supplying seedlings by the thousands, as well as increasing quality of its product.

Young gun of PNG's coffee industey

 

Young Joe Shelley, 32, is one of the young guns of PNG's coffee industry. 

He is now running  nationally-owned export company, Nowek, after the death of his father, Goroka coffee legend, Terry Shelley, in 2017. 

Joe is a precociously-talented young man who has fitted well into the shoes of his famous dad. 

Joe was in Australia when his father called him back to Goroka and passed on the reins. 

During a recent visit, Joe showed me around the Nowek Coffee Factory at Kamaliki, outside Goroka, and gave his frank views on the  status quo of the industry. 

His major concern is that coffee production is not increasing in PNG. 

Competition among Goroka exporters for the limited coffee available is intense. 

Nowek is helping to alleviate this issue by distributing coffee seedlings free of charge to people who want to get into growing coffee.

54 years in Goroka... and counting...

In the morning of Sunday, September 13, 2020, at Kama in Goroka, I was privileged to be introduced to one of the pioneers of Goroka, 78-year-old Ebung Dambi from  Mape in Finschhafen, Morobe. 

His is an amazing story. 

Mr Dambi, who is related to the Zurenuoc family, first came to Goroka in 1966 as a plumber and has stayed here since. 

He married his Chimbu wife, Sinape, at North Goroka Lutheran Church in 1970. 

Mr Dambi reflects on 54 years in Goroka and his thoughts of the future.

Livestock Development Corporation takes charge of beekeeping industry

The Livestock Development Corporation (LDC) has taken charge of Papua New Guinea's lucrative beekeeping industry.

LDC Managing-Director Terry Koim and Executive-Chairman and Department of Agriculture and Livestock Secretary Daniel Kombuk announced this in Goroka on Thursday, September 10, 2020.

They also signed a memorandum-of-understanding with the Eastern Highlands Beekeepers' Association, the largest and most-organised grouping of beekeepers in the country, to progress the industry.

The beekeeping industry has up to now been run on an ad hoc basis by farmers themselves.

A look into PNG's beekeeping industry

The beekeeping industry in PNG is a small but lucrative one.

Farmers get K12 per kg of raw honey, which is more than coffee, or other agriculture produce.

Many years ago, we had a factory in Goroka which exported honey, but this is no more.

It is an industry we should develop as we celebrate 45 years of Independence.

Along the Highlands Highway, outside of Goroka, pioneer beekeeper and retired agriculturalist Ian Mopafi builds beehives and frames for sale to honey farmers in Eastern Highlands and other parts of the Highlands.

Here he shows us his operation and talks about the untapped potential of the beekeeping industry.

Zuguru Cattle Ranch beefed up with new vehicle

The Zuguru Cattle Ranch in Bena, Eastern Highlands, has been given a brand-new Toyota Land Cruiser vehicle to do its work.

The vehicle was handed by Livestock Development Corporation (LDC) Executive Chairman and Department of Agriculture and Livestock Secretary, Mr Daniel Kombuk, to

Zuguru Manager Mr Bobby Sogavo on Thursday, September 10, 2020.

The event was witnessed by LDC Managing-Director Mr Terry Koim, Director Mr Ian Mopafi, invited guests and locals.

It is part of the drive by the LDC to beef up Zuguru, and all LDC ranches in the country, in line with the vision of Prime Minister

James Marape

for PNG to be self-sufficient in beef production by 2025.