Sepik farmers told to look after crops

FARMERS have been urged to stop removing cash crops when the prices are down.
Productive partnerships in agriculture project manager Potaisa Hombunaka told farmers at Waragom village, Maprik in East Sepik, to look after their crops.
Hombunaka was referring to the habit of farmers cutting down and removing vanilla when the price was low and replacing it with other crops like coffee or fresh garden produce.
The price of vanilla is now at its peak, between K700 and K900 per kilogramme, and farmers were returning to it.
“If you plant cash crops like vanilla, cocoa and coffee, you must maintain them to expand your income. This is integrated farming. The income from all these crops will continue to sustain your cash flow. It is important that you continue to have money from all these crops,” Hombunaka said.
The farmers in Maprik, Yangoru and Wosera took part in a cocoa and coffee rehabilitation programme.
They were visited by members of the World Bank-led implementation support mission checking rehabilitation activities in the province.
Included in the mission were International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) officials.
The cocoa rehabilitation at Waragom village is a partnership effort by World Vision, World Bank and IFAD.