Time to revive our agriculture sector

IN 1990, Papua New Guinea had Air Niugini, Talair, Douglas Airways, Nationair, KSS Aviation, Islands Aviation, MAF, Adventist Aviation and others flying throughout our airports and airstrips.
Lutheran Shipping, Consort, Coastal Shipping, Steamships, Bismarck Shipping and many boats ferried cargo and passengers from Vanimo, Aitape, Wuvulu, Bogia, Rai Coast, Saidor, Wasu, Tufi, Samarai, Kupiano, Gabagaba, Kerema, Ihu, Baimuru, Balimo, Pomio, Gloucester and other areas.
Although we had Yonki Power by 1975, power lines ran over Gusap, Walium to Madang or went past Kaiaipit (Markham) to Lae or past Henganofi, Lufa and Bena to serve Goroka and likewise directly to Kundiawa and Mt Hagen.
Despite the lack of power, we had many plantations and factories from Bogia or Wau all the way to Kagua and Erave and from Abau to Balimo.
We had post offices and bank branches in Wau, Asaro and Bewani and we had very high frequency phones and diesel power by either Works or Elcom.
Most of our highways were not sealed except the Okuk Highway.
We even had six different banks, including Indosuez, Westpac, ANZ, PNG Banking Corporation, National Bank and others.
We had only two universities and several colleges and technical schools.
Today, we may have better communication, electricity, sealed roads, more than two universities, but we cannot address employment and other economic and social issues.
How do we pay and equip the disciplinary forces without budget and funding in the Government coffers? How do we deal with social services and issues without the resource support?
Let’s address the roots, which includes our education system.
What are we missing in PNG?
Today, we are saying that there are no roads, jetties and airstrips to transport agriculture produce and deliver health and education services and other government services.
Where have we gone wrong in the last 20 years?
From 1975 to 1995, we only had Morobe and Western Highlands producing tea, Enga producing pyrethrum, six provinces producing coffee, seven producing cocoa, 10 producing coconut, five producing rubber and a few others supplied cattle.
We produced and exported one million bags of coffee.
We had Garaina, Kurumul and Nambawan Tea.
We produced and exported 400 metric tonnes of cocoa and coconut oil.
We had over 60,000 heads of cattle and thousands of sheep, goats and ducks.
Now, we are growing coffee, cocoa, copra, rubber, spices, livestock, citrus fruits, cabbages, carrots, lettuce and a variety of other fruits and vegetables in over 15 provinces.
However, the agriculture production and exports figures are on downward spiral.
Our factories and plantations are abandoned and there is less or no cocoa and copra produced in Morobe and Central.
Our people have forgotten about tea and coffee and pyrethrum in Enga, Southern Highlands and Hela.
This is an interesting observation in PNG.
We seem to focus on micro projects thinking it’s going to change the national outcomes.
We will keep blaming funding and transport infrastructure.
But what happened to the rubber, cocoa, coffee or coconut planted in Bewani, Balimo, Kikori, Kerema, Abau, Tufi, Rabaraba, Garaina, Kabwum, Rai Coast, Sogeram, Nubia, Karaweri, Erave , Kagua, Marawaka, Menyamya, Kilau, Ruti, Kompiam, Jimi, Mt. Au, Herowana and Haia?
Crops from these places were transported out and we were processing and exporting.
We were reaching the target annual production figures in almost all agriculture and livestock commodities.
Our Government may be well intended but we do not appear to understand what is going on.
So much have been reportedly spent on agriculture programmes, but we are not seeing the results.
Look at the closed industries such as Atzera Peanut Butter factory, Garaina and Kurumul Tea, Cottes Passiona, Sanitarium Health Foods, FRG Clothing in Madang, Rothman Uritoka Factory, HCE Weaving, Poligolo Peanuts, Madang crocodile leather plant, Kwato and Toboi boat building, Bereina and Maprik rice plus others that we have lost along the way.
Imagine if we can get all the agriculture products out and restart our large scale tobacco, peanut, rice, sorghum, maize farming and cattle grazing and rehabilitate all the rubber, tea, coconut, cocoa and coffee plantations.
We can start the leather products from cattle and crocodile and process fruit juices.
We are growing citrus and passion fruit in abundance than before.
We can shift honey production into cosmetics and beauty products and produce our own cooking oil from coconut and oil palm and cosmetics from coconut.
We will create more employment, more industries, more businesses and generate more revenue for the Government and income for the people.
The country can diversify its economic base.
Are we spreading out too much?
Are we not putting emphasis on each industry?
Are we not coordinating enough?
We need to get away from the paper planning and ask the hard questions as to what we should do to correct our mistakes.
For instance; Atzera Peanut Butter factory was operating without the now sealed Okuk Highway or the power from Yonki and using VHF radio and less graduates in agriculture and food technology.
The same was for Cottees Passions in Goroka and FRG Clothing factory in Madang.
We should be having better factories.
We can put money into planting peanut, citrus fruits and cocoa.
We have the potential to revive our agriculture sector.
We can discuss more on this and look at providing more industries and opportunities for people coming out the education system every year.

Wilson Thompson