Madang to build coconut processing plant, says CCRI

MADANG province will be the province among all coconut producing provinces to have a coconut downstream processing plant.
The processing plant was the latest technology and will produce 1 ton of activated carbon that will be used to refine gold and will be erected at Muranas along the North coast road.
       It would be owned by the Cocoa Coconut Research Institute (CCRI).
CCRI senior officer Paul Tumun revealed this during the Madang provincial administration Christmas dinner hosted by Madang Open MP Buka Malai at the Jais Aben Resort, near Madang, on Tuesday.
Mr Tumun said a team of CCRI scientists went to the Philippines recently and bought the technology.
He said it would see a shift in the coconut industry where the coconut shells would be used to produce activated carbon to refine gold and for the treatment of water instead of using chlorine.
He said more than 25 people would be employed to process 200-300kg of high quality virgin coconut oil from 3,000 coconuts a day.
Mr Tumun said the plant would also require more than 90,000 dry coconut daily to produce one tonne of activated carbon.
He said the husk of the coconuts would also be used in making mats to stop soil erosion while the dust from the fibre would be used to make compost to improve the soil fertility and for growing crops of high quality.
Mr Tumun said there would not be any waste from the coconut as all parts would be used for different things.
This would see another step for the coconut farmers than just selling copra and the opening is expected to be done in February depending on how fast the equipment arrives from the Philippines.