Board revives cocoa in Bogia

AGRICULTURE

By MALUM NALU
THE cocoa industry is set to be revived in rural Bogia, Madang, following the signing of an agreement between the PNG Cocoa Board (PNGCB) and Bogia District Development Authority (DDA) last Friday (July 30).
This reaffirms the commitment by Prime Minister James Marape to develop agriculture in Bogia.
Marape, when he visited Bogia in July last year to launch the redevelopment of the Awar plantation, promised the people of a price support programme for their agriculture produce – which has already been done.
He also assured them that the road from Madang to Bogia would be upgraded and sealed – something that has also been ticked off.
The Marape Government’s K50 million price support programme has worked well all over the country, while the North Coast Road from Madang to Bogia is completely sealed, making it one of the best roads in the country.

Agriculture in Bogia, famous for its coconut and cocoa plantations, is set to come back in a big way.
Cocoa thrived in Bogia until cocoa pod borer (CPB) decimated the industry and caused people to lose interest.
The milestone agreement, signed by PNG Cocoa Board extension manager Anton Varvaliu and Bogia district administrator Jacob Asevi, was witnessed by Agriculture and Livestock Minister John Simon, Bogia MP Robert Naguri, Department of Agriculture and Livestock acting Secretary Steven Mombi, PNG Cocoa Board chief executive officer Boto Gaupu and his officers, as well as representatives from the Madang provincial administration.
It follows a K1.2 million commitment in June this year by PNGCB (K600,000) and Bogia DDA (K600,000) to develop cocoa in Bogia
Hundreds of Bogia cocoa farmers and people witnessed the signing.
Minister Simon presented K120,000 to the Bogia DDA on behalf of the Government to start rolling out the nursery programme.
Gaupu said Bogia was once one of the leading cocoa-producing districts in the country until the onslaught of CPB.
He said PNGCB had gone into partnership with Bogia DDA to revive the cocoa industry there, with support of the Marape Government through nursery rollouts, freight subsidy, market promotion and quality control, and price support.
The PNGCB will be having an extension officer based permanently in Bogia to attend to the needs of farmers, following signing of the agreement.

Gaupu was thankful that MP Naguri took the initiative to revive the cocoa industry in Bogia.
“Cocoa production has gone down because of CPB,” he said.
“This place was predominantly cocoa, and when the CPB hit, the industry was devastated.
“A lot of resources were poured in to contain CPB, however, like other cocoa-producing areas (affected by CPB), production has gone down because people lost interest.
“People were indifferent to growing cocoa.
“Bogia used to produce almost 3,000 tonnes of cocoa, generating K10 million out of the K20 million total Madang production.
“This place (Bogia) is the hub of all agriculture activities (in Madang).
“You have beautiful, fertile land and all the labour here.
“What else do you need to create employment here?”
Gaupu said in the Momase region, large plantations could not be found in Morobe and Sepik, only Madang.
“The largest plantations are here, along the North Coast of Madang,” he said.
“These are resources that we must utilise to revive agriculture and ‘Take Back PNG’.”
Minister Simon urged the people of Bogia to live with CPB and turn it to their advantage.
“I see CPB as a disease that is here to stay,” the cocoa farmer-cum-politician said.
“We must learn to live with CPB as part of our lives.
“What we must do is to manage ourselves to live with CPB – which is just like Covid-19, TB, Aids where people take medication and live normal lives.
“I want to encourage the people of Bogia to prune your cocoa trees, look after them, so that they will bear good fruit.
“The CPB that has affected cocoa trees has also affected other cocoa-growing areas of PNG, however, they have learned to manage it and are making good money from their cocoa.”
Minister Simon cited the case of his Maprik District, one with no mining or petroleum, but now one of the richest districts in PNG with its agriculture produce like cocoa and vanilla.
“You here in Bogia are lucky because you also have copra,” he said.
“You have a lot of opportunities so stop idling around, complaining, as nothing will happen.”
Minister Simon said Bogia had about 80,000 people, however, currently only produced 900 tonnes of cocoa.
“Ideally, if everyone is working, we should be producing 80,000 tonnes of cocoa,” he said.
“Stop sitting around doing nothing and being lazy.
“We (government) don’t have all the answers for you, your MP (Naguri) doesn’t have all the answers for you, the answer lies in yourselves.
“If you want to change, change yourselves.
“Bogia can change but it depends on you.
“Just imagine if the 80,000 people of Bogia can produce one bag of cocoa a month?
“If we had 80,000 bags of cocoa coming out of here every month, there would be no need for you to go to Madang, as companies would be lining up to buy your produce here in Bogia.
“All I ask is for every person in Bogia to produce one bag of cocoa a month.
“Use the little government support to make more money from your cocoa and bring benefits here.
“Bogia has a very good road unlike other areas of PNG.
“Take, for instance, Karamui in Chimbu which produces very good cocoa but has no road access.
“It is quite ironic that here in Bogia, we have a good road, however, don’t want to produce more cocoa.”
Naguri urged his people to go into cocoa, which he described as a “family business”.
“Cocoa is a business for the whole family as father, mother and children can be involved,” he said.
Naguri said there should be no excuse for the people of mainland Bogia, unlike those on Manam Island, not to be involved in cocoa.
“Look after cocoa and it will look after your family,” he said.
“The road from Bogia to Awar will soon be sealed, as a national highway, which will help all you farmers.
“Other roads to rural areas of Bogia will also be built to help farmers take their cocoa to market.
“In 10 years’ time, we should no longer be sending our cocoa to Madang, as ships will come here and load them for export.
“All this will become reality if we hold hands with the PNG Cocoa Board.”

• Malum Nalu works with the Office of the Prime Minister