Irrigation issues holding back expansion of onion farm

By TONY PALME
WARAKAR bulb onion farmer Augustine Misik’s only setback is the lack of a reliable irrigation system to allow him to engage in large-scale production.
His company, Kultono Fresh Vegetable and Fish Farming, which was registered with the Investment Promotion Authority in April 2014, has been growing vegetables like cabbage, potato, sweet potato (kaukau), lettuce, capsicum, carrot and tomato at a smaller scale.
“I started farming in early 2000,” Misik said.
“Apart from gardening, I looked after pigs, ducks and fish, which I still do today.
“Since I received some training from Fresh Produce Development Agency and became a contact farmer once my interest in farming increased so I formed a company.”
Misik said there were no markets available.
He supplied his produce to Fatima Secondary School, Fatima Technical Vocational School (Tvet), Waghi Valley Secondary School and Kutubu.
Misik was presented with a golden opportunity this year when Tininga Mt Hagen identified his farm as a potential supply site for large-cale commercial farming.
He was coached on land preparation, nursery control, seed transplanting and watering and disease control, especially in bulb onion farming.
“I have about 40-50 hectares of land and I am very keen to plant bulb onion on a large scale,” Misik said.
“The challenge I’m facing now is irrigation. My farm is located about 500 metres away from the main Warakar stream.
“I need to set up a water pump beside the river and then pump water straight to a storage tank beside my farm.
“I would then set up a solar pump and pump water from the storage tanks into the farm using the sun’s energy. That is very costly.” Misik believes he can meet a big chunk of demand for bulb onion if he can have a constant irrigation system to water his nurseries and plots.
He hailed the Government for shifting its priority to the agriculture sector.