Students asked to take interest in agriculture

THE Maprik district development authority has developed a new tertiary assistance scheme that will allow students to go into agriculture before qualifying for a school fee loan.
Chairman of the DDA and Maprik MP John Simon, when debating on the agriculture ministerial statement in Parliament on Wednesday, said students from Maprik attending tertiary institutions throughout the country had been urged to go back home and plant a hectare of coffee and cocoa to qualify for the school fee assistance loan scheme.
Simon said his policy was to encourage university students to go back home and take interest in agriculture as there was money in cocoa, coffee, vanilla and other cash crops.
“The strategy is to increase agriculture production in my district,” he said. “I want to tell the university students that there is a future in agriculture.
“There is no free handout. You grow a hectare of coffee or cocoa, then you qualify to borrow K1000 from the district.
“Agriculture extension officers will travel around and verify the one hectare of cocoa or coffee project the student initiated.
“They make recommendations, the DDA endorses it and the National Development Bank gives the loan that can be used to pay for their school fee.
“The students can go back to school but the parent can help to maintain them and repay the loan.”
Simon, while debating on Agriculture Minister Benny Allan’s statement, said if they did not replant then they would have to clean up the old rundown coffee and cocoa plots.