Industry needs funding: Mebil

THE country needs to do more to develop its agriculture industry by allocating more money and resources to it, a company managing director says.
John Mebil, the managing director of Kome Agriculture Services Limited, said this during the presentation of a cheque for K35,280 to the Simbu Farmers Marketing Limited to buy bulb onions from farmers in Chimbu, Eastern Highlands and Western Highlands.
“Every country boasts about their agriculture sector and in Papua New Guinea, we only preach about agriculture as the backbone of our economy (but) we are not putting enough money and resources into it,” he said.
“Agriculture is also a fragile sector and the value chain between production and consumption must be effective, efficient and robust to ensure the sector grows.”
The Simbu Farmers Marketing Limited is a business arm of the Simbu government. KASL is a subsidiary of PNG Agriculture Cooperative College.
Mebil said creating a better value chain from the production to distribution and consumption of fresh produce was important to benefit farmers in the villages and develop agriculture.
“The K35,280 is so far the biggest payment KASL has made to any cooperative society and we are determined to drive agriculture with the support of agencies such as the Fresh Produce Development Agency.”
He said farmers needed help to gain good returns in the informal markets .