FARMING

Weekender
Usino watermelon sellers gathering for a quick picture before the Lae market opens for the day.

Precious watermelons, precarious roads

By ELLEN TIAMU
PEOPLE who own large plots of land cannot complain of hunger.
The more land they possess, the more they should be able to profit from it to better their own wellbeing and that of their families and communities. For some landowners working the land might seem like hard work but there are others more willing to get their hands dirty.
Gideon Nomu is a melon farmer from Mauno village in Usino LLG in Madang who says working the land brings him great satisfaction. The 34-year-old father of two and his wife have been growing and selling watermelons for six years already. And he is not alone. A growing number of young people from neighbouring villages such as Tapo, Mauno Masi, Yakumbu, Sauna, and Nauna Saraina in Wards 11,12 and 13 are also in on the business.
Growing watermelons is not labour intensive and with the climate in their part of the country conducive, the mouthwatering gourds flourish abundantly. Most plots are near to where the growers live.
At 10 weeks after planting, farmers have money in their hands, according to Nomu.
His Mauno village is about five kilometers from Walium government station and in the early days of their venture, the men from his area would cart their produce on a “ples kar” to be sold at Walium market which is situated along the Madang highway which connects to Lae and the five highlands provinces.
The main market in Madang, a four-hour drive (with melons) away, was another selling point for the growers at one point in time. But with more and more people latching onto the idea of melon farming, the harvest became greater and the problem of finding fast-selling markets started becoming more apparent.

Usino melon farmers looking out for any help that can ensure their produce is quickly sold and enjoyed by many

Less than three months ago, the group trialed sales at Lae’s main market and discovered that the gourds were selling better there even though trips into the city were taking twice as long and costs were more than doubling.
“The main market in Lae is bigger and experiences a lot more customers every market day so we can dispose of our produce quicker,” Nomu said.
He explained that due to the fragility of the precious cargo, travel time by road has to be on a hired truck and preferably at night when there is much less traffic.
But even Lae market is not enough for these hardworking young men who are producing an abundance and desperately need more, surer markets.
“While the interest of the boys are up, our MPs and leaders must do more to try to help us,” Nomu said.
“We must not let them (the boys) give up.”
Watermelons have a shelf life of two weeks after they are plucked. Their freshness wanes after that and they have to be sold at a discount. If they still don’t sell in the ensuing days they end up in the rubbish heap.

These young men travelled all night from Walium to Lae with the help of Usino LLG Ward 11 Councilor Lukey Ross and Usino Programme Manager-Commerce, Indap Kuna (far right).

In Lae, competition comes from Markham growers whose melons do not necessarily conform to their season proper which runs from September to February.
Usino growers reap between 100 and 400 gourds per harvest and this translates into a profit of between K3,000 to K5,000 per season for each of them although this is not the narrative currently with the young men from inland Madang.
Hiring a truck to Lae costs anywhere between K800 – K1000 for an eight-hour slow trip which is preferably taken at night in order to protect the delicate gourds. It begins the evening before and arrives in the Morobe capital a few hours before the Lae Market opens for trading the next day. When desperation sets in, even larger highway vehicles are chartered at a much lower price, albeit at a cost to the watermelons.
The market gate fee stands at between K100 to K300 depending on the load and sellers who opt to overnight at the market to care for their goods pay a service fee of K2 each per night.
In Usino, melons are planted starting in March with the first harvest season beginning in May. Melon season for them stops around November.
Nomu worked at a fish cannery in Lae in 2013 but after a year threw in the towel to return to his village where he started work on his watermelon gardens.
He first registered his G. Nomu Fresh Produce business with Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) in 2018 and two weeks ago renewed the registration after it lapsed. He is willing to take his other watermelon-selling brothers under his wings until they are able to register their own businesses and, or until such time as when they form a Usino watermelon farmer’s association.
Nomu said there is a willingness by the young people to grow larger plots but the biggest setback is the lack of stable markets where melons go directly from garden to supermarket, catering firm, or other outlets.
“We would like to expand our horizons to the other provinces, or countries even, but right now we need the best advice from our public servants at provincial and LLG levels on how best we can further our watermelon venture.
“We are young people trying to do something for ourselves to stay out of trouble and if our public servants or MPs see fit to assist us in any way, we would really appreciate it.
“I think fresh produce should be given as high a consideration as cash crops,” Nomu said.
President of the Usino-Bundi and Gama Council of Women, Monica Ibiam was surprised when she assisted the youths with a load of watermelons to Lae three weeks ago on a new council truck.
“I couldn’t help but notice that most watermelon sellers at the market in Lae were youths from our district.”
“The greatest need for our farmers right now is transportation. And we are not only talking about melon farmers,” she said.
As we read, the Lae market is currently awash with watermelons from their part of the country. Their main worry right now is to at least make a small profit to feed their families and have enough left over to purchase new seeds at specialist agriculture stores for the next melon season.

  • The writer is a freelance journalist.

Wet coffee mill refurbished

By CORA MOABI
JUNGLE Taste Coffee Ltd (JTCL) has entered a special lease agreement with the Mitega coffee mill at 7-Mile, outside Goroka town to get the coffee mill back into operation.
Managing Director of  JTCL Wayasere Asaga said he approached owner Jack Gasowo some time ago and discussed possibilities of getting the wet mill up and running after being closed for 14 years.
“I am glad that these discussions have come to a fruitful agreement between JTCL and Mitega coffee mill as we launch the wet factory today.”
The refurbished wet factory was launched on Aug 6, 2020 at 7-Mile, Ifiufa outside Goroka town.
Farmers, community leaders and invited guests gathered to witness the special occasion.
Asaga urged farmers under this new partnership to bring in red ripe cherries to the factory. “I want to ask you if you do eat unripe bananas. If your answer is no, then that is the same thing with picking only red ripe cherries and bringing them here.” Why pick unripe cherries to give you an undesired flavour for coffee? Asaga told farmers at the launch that they were the ones who control the system to get a good price. “You bring quality, you will get quality price.”

The refurbished wet coffee mill.

Guest speaker and Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) industry operations general manager Steven Tumae commended the company for its initiative to revive the wet factory. He said quality was the key to better prices and was glad the company is pursuing that through this partnership with the Mitega mill.
“Many of us are where we are today because coffee paid for our education. The young generation today must not only depend on paid jobs. The education system has taught us that, but we must realise that we have the land to go back to earn from hard work if formal education does not take us anywhere.”
Tumae explained that policy changes at CIC have opened up opportunities for those in the coffee business to export micro- lot shipment through licensed exporters compared to the standard container load requirement. “You can now export micro lots of 10 kilos and above compared to the previous container load which is about 320 bags.”
He said 13 grades of exports has been cut down to five grades, as there was a differentiation or discrimination between plantation grades and smallholder grades.
Tumae said hosting the CIC cupping competition revealed many good coffees that qualified for the specialty market, however our problem is consistency and reliability.
“We have to be prepared to meet the requirements and requests if we are serious in getting into these high-end markets,” Tumae said.
Tumae said CIC has established quality labs with the support of World Bank funded Productive Partnership in Agriculture Project (CIC-PPAP) in Western Highlands and Goroka, and intends to make two more labs, one in East New Britain to cater for the New Guinea Islands region and another in Central Province for the Southern region.
“I assure Jungle Taste that CIC facilities are available to help you assess your coffee quality and assist in your quest in improving coffee quality going forward,” Tumae said.
Wayasere said that his team was ready to re-open the wet mill and start purchasing cherry coffee. “Times have changed, we are into a new era of doing things and we look forward to working with farmers in the area and CIC to produce quality coffee.”
Wayasere together with partner Nina Giheno are determined to improve other facilities at the factory site by constructing raised beds for coffee drying and solar dryers among others.
Factory owner Jack Gasowo was pleased with the new partnership with JTCL to revive the wet factory. “I was down for some time when JTCL approached me to get things up and running. Coffee prices have not changed much and if JTCL can organise and bring us to those good markets we are talking about, I will be more than satisfied.”

  • Cora Moabi is a PNG Coffee Industry Corporation media officer.