Farm owners: Do not worry

 By WATSON GABANA
OWNERS of the hydroponics farm at 9-Mile outside Port Moresby, say they are not there to compete against locals in the production of fresh food.
Eran Gal-Or, chief executive officer of LR Group of Israel which operates the hydroponics farm said: “We are not here to compete against any farmer in PNG and we won’t be farming all the crops already produced by farmers.
“We are not going to compete with anyone in this country.  The rural farmers can continue farming and supplying their market.
“We will be farming and producing only selected varieties of crops including tomatoes, two species of cucumbers, two types of capsicums and zucchini, to meet the high end of the market.
“We are not going to farm everything. These crops will be grown in quantity and supplied to clients in a consistency bases meeting the daily demands of the clients.”
He said the company aimed to compete with the importers and not with the farmers. Gal-Or said rural farmers must not feel threatened by them but to work together so that they could reduce the import of fruits and vegetables from Australia and New Zealand.
“For Papua New Guinea to be fully independent in food production, we have to reduce the number of food coming in from Brisbane and New Zealand,” Gal-Or said.
He said about 20 containers or 2000 tones of fresh produce are imported every week from Australia and New Zealand.