Vehicle for board
The National, Monday March 3rd, 2014
THE Yangoru-Saussia Joint District Planning and Budget Priorities Committee (JDP and BPC) has given a vehicle to the Papua New Guinea Cocoa Board in Wewak, East Sepik, to carry out extension work in the cocoa rehabilitation programme in the district.
The vehicle was presented to the project officer, Martin Ningi at Himbru village, West Yangoru, last Monday during a reconciliation ceremony between Yangoru-Saussia MP Richard Maru and Isaiah Sanduma, a candidate in the 2012 general election.
Sanduma, through his own initiative, has made available land for a nursery for the people of Kumun-Koboibus census division, which was known for the highest cocoa production over the years until the recent incursion of the cocoa pod borer.
His effort has now been acknowledged by Maru and his district administration who have partnered with the Cocoa Board to bring in new pest resistant planting material to farmers in the district.
This programme was first launched by Agriculture Minister Tommy Tomscoll at the Miambaru village, West Yangoru, last November
Maru said the main nursery for the district would be at Miambaru , where all local level governments will have nurseries to supply six million plants in the next three years
Ningi, who has wide experience working in the cocoa industry for many years in East New Britain, said the new clones that he would introduce in the Yangoru-Saussia was of the highest yield as a single tree and would produce between 80 and 90 pods or about 20kg of wet bean cocoa.
This would enable small farmers to grow cocoa as an alternate income earning opportunity.