Coffee farmers told to get involved in training

By PISAI GUMAR
Agriculture meetings and training in hotels and motels are a waste of money, productive partnership in agriculture manager Potaisa Hombunaka says.
Hombunaka said meetings in hotels and motels without local farmers’ participation and input gained nothing concrete for the future of agriculture.
“In the name of rural growers, paper farmers obtain huge funding and consume it in Waigani, leaving rural farmers to suffer,” Hombunaka said.
He said if the training was meant for village farmers, it should be conducted where the majority of farmers would embrace the skills to utilise them meaningfully.
He told locals at the Kalebo village in Wain-Erap, Nawaeb in Morobe, on Thursday last week that locals never involved outsiders in coffee-rehabilitation training because knowledge would be taken outside the province.
“Involve yourself to learn the methods and skills of how to nurture coffee – taking care, harvesting and producing quality beans – to ensure the knowledge remains with you,” Hombunaka said.
“Lukautim kofi na kofi bai lukautim yu (Take care of coffee and coffee will look after you,” he said.
Morobe agriculture and livestock programme adviser Ken Elonaga urged farmers to have confidence in themselves when selling the end products.
“Weakness creeps in when farmers are unable to manage the money they earn from selling beans” Elonaga said.