Daily prices of farm produce readily available

MOBILE market information service continues to be well received by the service users since its launch last October, project partner and cell phone company Digicel PNG Ltd said.
The two-year K433,740 project is a partnership project between Digicel and Fresh Produce Development agency (FPDA).
It is funded by AusAID through the agriculture research and development support facility (ARDSF) under its agriculture innovative grant scheme (AIGS) component.
“The service continues to be well received by the farming community and we see a steady climb in the users ever since it was launched,” Digicel PNG chief executive officer John Mangos said.
“From an average of 100 users, we are now seeing close to 1,000 requests for market information on a daily basis, which clearly suggests that the service provides real tangible benefits to farmers.”
Mr Mangos said: “The service is indeed an excellent opportunity to help PNG farmers maximise profit out of their crops and it is just a matter of time before the farmers get used to the service and truly earn from it.”
He said that having the right information at the right time would help them plan for quantity, delivery and price advantage.
 “Moreover, the service is quite easy to use and so we get calls that expressed appreciation of the service.”
Digicel supports the project by making sure the service is always available and tests the service every two hours on a daily basis.