Production challenges
The National, Thursday February 19th, 2015
By GYNNIE KERO
POOR public infrastructure, high service costs and bottlenecks in the importing of agro chemicals into the country are a challenge for local producers, an official says.
Ramu Agri Industries Ltd (RAIL) general manager Jamie Graham said these had made the cost of production for both sugar and beef to be much higher than competitors overseas.
“Unlike our (RAIL) overseas competitors, we have to provide our own research into plant and animal health protection, breeding and agronomic improvements.
“There is no support from government in getting access to new breeding materials and animal genetics both which we have acquire from overseas at great expense,” Graham said.
RAIL is part of the New Britain Palm Oil Group, engaging in sustainable agriculture and manufacturing business.
The Company’s operation in Sugar, Beef, and Oil Palm spreads across the Ramu and Markham Valleys, Morobe.
Ramu Agri Industries Ltd produces and distributes for both local and international markets.
Looking at the production of sugar and beef in the previous year, Graham said: “2014 was a better year for the sugar operation with production reaching 31,122 tonnes compared to 2013 when we (RAIL) produced 30,303 tonnes.
“We are hoping to produce over 33,000 tonnes of sugar this year.
“Last May, we saw the launching of Ramu Rum, distilled aged and bottled here in the Ramu Valley.
“This year we have launched our new Ramu Raw Sugar and we will be launching our new gin.
NBPOL’s beef operations are located at Numundo in West New Britain and at Ramu in Morobe.
The Numundo herd is 3,560 whilst at Ramu there are 20,000 head of cattle, the largest in the country.
“In 2014, the combined operation broke all records by processing 7,052 head, 1,190 of which were purchased from local farmers and fattened in the feedlot.
The company has detailed plans to expand the operation considerably over the next five years with an expected 9,000 head to be processed by 2018; yielding in excess of 2.25 million kilograms of beef,” he added.