Country has land to grow rice locally, says Simon

PAPUA New Guinea has land and can grow and produce its own rice instead of relying on imports, says Agriculture and Livestock Minister John Simon
“We have land and we are not serious about growing rice while relying so much on imported rice which is costly,” Simon said.
He said Papua New Guinea spent more than K800 million annually to import rice from other countries.
“That is a lot of money which can be put in research and development of rice locally as we have land which is the major component of rice farming,” he said.
Simon visited Erap station outside Lae in a bid to revive the station and other assets of the Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL) and encourage agricultural developments and research.
He said he had instructed the Livestock Development Corporation (LDC) Ltd to work closely with the rice and grain sector of DAL to find means of growing the food crop.
“The DAL is interested in reviving rice production and with the help of our partners from Taiwan with their technology. All we need to do now is work in partnership as a way forward.”
Simon said LDC as the commercial arm of DAL would be leading the sector in rice production.
“They (LDC) have a lot of land available and can make available pieces of land for rice farming and cattle grazing.”
Simon said they were working on setting up a rice and grain board and once that board was in place, it would look into further development in the rice and grain field.
“This is why we are reviving Erap station and helping LDC to support rice production in the country.”