Community group funds training in coffee planting

Business

A COMMUNITY group has taken up an initiative to fund training in coffee planting, Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) acting coordinator for Morobe John Kabuba says.
The Katumani Incorporated Land Group (ILG) in the Upper Baiune of Mumeng local level government area of Bulolo district, through its executives, had invited CIC to conduct a two-day programme.
According to Kabuba, the ILG had no coffee but were interested in going into coffee planting.
He said training was on the practical aspects of field lining, garden preparations and types of soil on which seeds would be planted.
“In theory, we talked about the importance of coffee and marketing,” Kabuba said.
“Marketing is one area that will drive the people to work on their coffee trees.
“We focus more on marketing extension by taking them back to cupping, taste and the type of coffee the consumers want.
“The 40 participants learned how many trees to be planted to meet the volume of supply.  I believe they understood what we have taught them.”
Kabuba said Katumani ILG had prepared to take in 20,000 coffee trees from the nursery at the PNG Forest Products area in Bulolo.
“It was funded through the Bulolo-CIC memorandum of agreement for this project in which seedlings were ready for planting,” he said.