Mainland eyeing big growth push

The National National

By SHIRLEY MAULUDU
THERE will be a reduction in the need for foreign exchange and reliance on imported grains when crops are grown locally, Mainland Holdings Ltd managing director David Alcock says.
Alcock told the inaugural agriculture summit in Port Moresby this week that Mainland Holdings planned to invest in agriculture and develop cropping strategies.
“In the last three years, Mainland Holdings sales have increased by 36 per cent from K257 million to K350 million,” he said.
“In the last three years, Mainland Holdings profits (before tax) have increased by K42 million.
“Mainland Holdings today is 100 per cent PNG-owned with Nasfund our number one shareholder.”
He said the company was a major player in the SME poultry sector with 260 out-grower farms in Lae and Port Moresby.
“These SMEs deliver over 50 per cent of our chicken broilers
each week to the 6-Mile processing plant and earn K6.4 million a year,” he said.
The company exports crocodile skin to Europe and Asia, with more than 35,000 crocodiles on the farm.
Alcock said the business needed to grow crops because:

  • Mainland Holdings is the largest producer of stock feed in PNG, with production of 100,000 tonnes of finished stock feed per annum;
  • Around 80 per cent of stock feed raw materials were made from two key types of crops. These are cereal crops and protein crops. The most common is wheat or sorghum as a cereal crop and soya bean or canola as a protein crop;
  • By growing crops, Mainland Holdings can reduce reliance on imported grains and the need for forex will be greatly reduced;
  • Stock feed was the largest cost in the growing of poultry and therefore if we can reduce the cost of these grains, this will reduce the cost of poultry for the people of PNG;
  • There would be an increase in the participation of SME farmers in the growing of crops.