Stakeholders must work together and follow policy: Dept secretary

THE drought conditions which happen often in the country require a rice variety that is drought-tolerant, says Department of Agriculture secretary Dr Sergie Bang.
He told the National Agriculture Research Institute agreement signing with the International Rice Research Institute in Port Moresby on Friday that talks would be held with rice growers in the country.
“There are different groups in the country growing rice, and there are importers of rice such as Trukai, Goodman Fielders and Homestate,” he said.
“They need to work together to make sure state policy is implemented.
“In the next 10 years, there will be a gradual replacement of imported rice by our domestic production.”
Institute interim director-general Ajay Kohli said there should be an assessment of the drought conditions in PNG.
“Droughts can be of many different kinds,” he said.
He said the solutions can be different, the varieties used can be different, having an understanding and baseline information not just in terms of consumption but growing it and the agronomy behind it, are important.