Farmers get training on fresh produce

The National National
The villagers from Dirima base camp after receiving their training on potato and bulb onion farming. – Picture supplied.

LOCAL farmers in Chimbu are ready to supply the market with onions and sweet potatoes after completing a cash crop training recently.
Locals in Oreme village, Dirima, in Gumine, were trained to grow different crops by Fresh Produce Development Agency (FPDA).
FPDA bulb onion specialist James Aniau said the fresh produce industry in Papua New Guinea has the potential to generate billions of kina annually.
He said fresh produce, including onions could fetch K34 million annually if all players got the mechanisms right in production and marketing.
“Bulb onions have an annual demand of K10-K12 million in the country that result in PNG spending over K4 million on bulb onion imports annually.”
He said an average of K8 million was spent on onion imports in 2019.
Aniau said the momentum had been set by the Chimbu government and its six districts had entered into a partnership arrangement with FPDA.