Kamali Primary School students and teachers standing in front of transplanted pakchoi.
Students and teachers at Kamali Primary School in the Rigo Coast LLG (Central Province) recently took part in FPDA vegetable production training.
FPDA officers conducted the free training as part of the school’s Making a Living program. It was the first of its kind for Kamali Primary School and everyone was eager to participate and learn new skills.
During the first awareness session, school headmistress Mrs. Wari thanked FPDA for introducing the program to the school, adding that not all Grade 8 students will continue to Grade 9.
The skills learnt through this program will therefore be important for future income generation, particularly for those students who are not successful in furthering their education.
Vegetable production can also provide a source of income for parents who are unable meet their children’s school uniform or school fee costs. Parents can venture into this form of income generation to meet their children’s needs and better support their family.
The opportunity for Kamali Primary School students to earn a cash income motivated them to get into groups, raise garden beds, and plant pakchoi.
The students sold out their first crop of pakchoi and the school says that the money made will be used to buy new seeds to plant again.
FPDA staff harvesting bulb onions with VEW Mr. Poiye and his contact farmers.
Bulb onion training conducted at Gabakure Village, Suai LLG in the Sinesine-Yonggomugl district of Simbu Province has produced a very good result for farmers.
FPDA Village Extension Worker (VEW) Buckley Poiye says the community has realised that their land has the potential to produce bulb onions with marketable size and shape, and a good taste.
Mr Poiye added that his team were pleased with their produce and motivated to go into large scale bulb onion production.
The bulb onion harvest was cured by simply hanging for two weeks in a well aerated house. Once cured, the onions were sorted and packed. The farmers were then linked to a fresh produce consolidator from Goroka who paid K100 per 25kg net bag.
Community members were amazed to see that bulb onion could be a cash crop that can put money in their hands on the spot. As a result, a good number of people in Suai LLG have privately purchased bulb onion seeds and requested training from FPDA.
FPDA bulb onion training covers crop production, crop protection, management, post-harvest, and marketing.
In addition, FPDA will provide technical advice and supervision for individuals in the LLG who invest in farming by purchasing private start-up kits.
FPDA’s
Information Management and Communication team conducted a one week long training
exercise in March 2019 to train Kundiawa-Gembogl District staff and Simbu
Provincial Agriculture staff.
The training was the first output of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between FPDA and the Kundiawa-Gembogl District Development Authority (KGDDA).
Memorandum of Agreement
The KGDDA through support from the Member Honorable William Onglo provided funding of K1 million under the MoA. The MoA calls for the provision of extension service and market development for bulb onion, potato and other horticulture crops.
FPDA
will provide the extension and expertise to implement the project in
partnership with the KGDDA.
The MOA details broad extension service provision and market development. It includes physical resources, staff capacity building, and contributions to the enhancement of the overall productivity of fresh produce value chain segments in PNG, and abroad.
Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA)
The first output of the project is a Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) to assess the prevailing socio-economic status of the district. After this exercise a detailed cost and implementation plan will be developed that will underpin the implementation of the project.
Group team leaders in a hands on session on the use of Kobo ToolBox for data collection.
The purpose of the workshop was to up-skill staff on the tools and process used when conducting RRAs. The sessions included the use of different tools to conduct surveys, developing relevant questionnaires, conducting surveys, and data management using digital tools.
The
workshop was conducted at the Mingendi Pastoral Centre in the Simbu Province and
opened by the Kundiawa Gembogl District Administrator Mr. Menau Manga.
The
Provincial DAL through Principal Advisor Mr. Chris Mondo supported by assisting
with a vehicle to transport staff from Kundiawa to the training venue.
A total of 25 participants attended the meeting, including three provincial DAL staff, six district staff, and six enumerators.
Also present were important stakeholders including Toby Sundu (Project Manager, Integrated Rural Resource Management), Tresa Sundu (Mitnande LLG Women’s Representative) and Wendy Konam (Nilkande LLG Women’s Representative).
A total of 2,500
households are expected to be interviewed for this exercise.
Anna and Mathias Palme harvesting clean kaukau on their farm.
Clean kaukau is making inroads in the Highlands, delivering the best taste, good quality, and most importantly, never before seen quantity.
While some seasoned kaukau farmers refuse to try clean kaukau, a handful have taken on the challenge to try something new. The results have been overwhelming and more farmers are now wanting to plant clean kaukau in their farms.
The Palme Family
Mathias and Anna Palme from the Check Point area of the Wahgi Valley, outside Minj say they have no regrets about becoming clean kaukau farmers.
Mr Palme, a father of four educated at the University of Goroka, left school due to school fee problems and worked as a bank teller and paralegal officer for some time before turning to farming.
“I was planting all types of crops over the years and last year I was introduced to clean kaukau. It is producing completely different results from previous kaukau materials,” he said.
Mr Palme said that he was not sure what the outcome would be when he first started planting the clean kaukau. He found that it took less time to mature and gave a higher yield than previously planted varieties.
The Palme’s have been harvesting clean kaukau for some time and transporting it to local markets for sale. They say that clean kaukau has a clean surface with good taste and high yield of commercial significance.
“Unlike before, we can fill a bag from only three or four mounds. This is really adding value to our farming activities,” he said.
Prior to becoming a Village Extension Worker (VEW) with FPDA, Mr Palme was only practising subsistence farming despite having 10-hectares of land sitting idle.
Mr Palme says he has learnt a lot of new skills through induction courses with FPDA officers in Jiwaka. He now plans to convert his unused land to commercial farming, with clean kaukau as the lead crop.
What is “clean kaukau”?
Clean kaukau is the regular kaukau grown all over PNG that has been taken into the laboratory and cleaned of all diseases before being reproduced for planting.
The process is similar to a person undergoing a scan to be diagnosed and then properly treated to remove diseases and sickness.
The clean kaukau planting materials are taken to secluded nurseries to grow bigger before being distributed to farm plots. After the fourth generation of planting a new nursery is set up and the process is repeated.
Clean kaukau planting materials are produced by FPDA with assistance from the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR), in order to improve the quality and quantity of kaukau to meet market demands.
Clean kaukau is now widely grown in Asaro (EHP), Wahgi Valley (Jiwaka), and Mul (WHP). Other centres are also starting to pick up the crop.
