Farmers blame Covid-19 for wastage of fresh produce

LOCAL fresh produce farmers in the Highlands are blaming Covid-19 for the wastage of crops and lack of market accessibility for their produce.
The farmers are also calling on the Government to subsidise funding for established farmers to recover during the lockdown period.
Speaking on behalf of Highlands farmers, Win Moni, a consistent pathogen tested (PT) kaukau (sweet potato) farmer from Mul, Western Highlands, said farmers were the hardest hit.
He said his hard work would go to waste if his kaukau crops did not reach markets in Lae and Port Moresby.
Moni was trained by the Fresh Produce Development Agency (FPDA) under the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR) to trial PT kaukau or clean kaukau after the planting materials were diagnosed, treated and cleaned of diseases before trialling in igloo nurseries before planting.
“PT kaukau has a better nutritional value, matures in four months instead of six, better yielding to commercial value and tastes much better,” he said.
Apart from the tubers, Moni’s sale of cuttings to farmers in Western Highlands and parts of Southern Highlands at 30-50toea per cutting is now in limbo due to the lockdown.
“For those of us who supply 100 to 200 bags to markets around the country, we cannot do so as there are road blocks everywhere and poor transport accessibility,” he said.
“Our crops are rotting away in the soil and we badly need assistance from our government.”
Moni said the announcement made by the Government to provide subsidies through Bismark Shipping to transport fresh produce to Port Moresby was welcome news for farmers.
“We have been doing it alone all these years and for that I want to thank the Government and also Covid-19 for breaking the barriers,” he said.
“It’s a blessing in disguise for some of us,” he said.
Paul Berem, a farmer from Nebilyer, Western Highlands, also raised concern that real farmers were suffering in the villages while so called ‘middlemen’ were benefitting from such assistance from the Government.