PNG UNRE News

ANIMAL Science lecturer  Charles Maika recently delivered  training on how to  use goat manure as fertilizer  for cocoa production to  farmers on Tabar Island in  New Ireland. Participants were taught  that fertilizers are important  for  cocoa  production. With commercial fertilizers  being too expensive to  maintain the soil fertility  of cocoa trees; Mr Maika  trained the farmers how  to use goat manure as a  cheaper organic fertilizer  to save costs while increasing  the agricultural output  from a unit area of land via  its diversified farming activities. Some topics Mr Maika’s  presentation covered included:  Role of Livestock  integration in PNG communities;  Cocoa and goat  integration technologies;  Locally available feedstuff to match Goat feeding behavior;  Goat house and  management systems (confined  and outdoor based); Animal Health and disease  surveillance; Quarantine  a nd biosecurity practices;  and others. Participants were taught  the integrated system which  allows

AGRICULTURE is Papua New Guinea’s sleeping giant but it has been underutilized and misunderstood for a long time. Nicole Isifu, managing director of AgBook Agribusiness Training and Advisory Ltd, expressed this sentiment in a presentation to third year Agriculture students on Tuesday this week ( Aug 31 ). Ms Isifu said even though there is a large, growing agriculture market in the country, PNG continues to import billions of kina worth of agricultural products that it could produce  itself. “People say agriculture is our nation’s backbone but where is agriculture today? We are still subsistence farmers and depending on mining... extractive industries... the sleeping giant is agriculture,” she said. Ms Isifu said agriculture has long been misunderstood by many, especially young people. “A lot of young people think that farming is just about spades, forks and bush knives but it’s not about that. It’s about busi ness. The land is more than just a garden,” she said. “Agriculture can and w