Stockfeed locally made

 By DOROTHY MARK
A Karkar Islander is making chicken and poultry feed at home and finding it much cheaper than buying it from retailers.
Mark Akoi, who helped his family make poultry feeds at Dangsai village, said his parents and other family members produced the stockfeed from cassava in their gardens.
The Akoi family made a coconut and cassava milk extractor from wood to help drain the milk and use the extracts to make feed.
Cassava and yar leaves were mixed into the feed.
“World Vision taught many of us on the island back in the 1990s to do this but my family is the only one still doing it,” Akoi said.
The Akoi family survived the drought on the island last year because they planted and ate a resistant variety of sweet potatoes that World Vision had taught them to plant.
Mark’s mum Galpein displayed a variety of sweet potatoes (kaukau) that grow well on Karkar Island during the island’s Bilum Festival two weeks ago.
She said the type that grew well in dry seasons were the ones commonly planted in the Kandrien areas of West New Britain.
“We survived with the Kandrien    kaukau during the long dry season,” Galpein said.
The family also makes strawberry-like cordial using purple kaukau leaves and sugar.
Akoi said his family was trying to encourage other people on the island to make their own stockfeed.