Trukai boosts rice sector

Business, Normal
Source:

The National, Wednesday 5th June 2013

 By LARRY ANDREW

TRUKAI INDUSTRIES has reaffirmed its commitment to the growth of the rice industry by announcing a funding of K525,000 for two research projects  to increase local production.

The fund presentation was made by Trukai Industries chief executive Marc Denovan at PNG University of Technology Taraka campus in Lae, Morobe yesterday 

Denovan said Trukai was working with the government to set up a large-scale commercial pilot crop and these research projects would were hoped to jibe with the aim of increasing rice production to improve the country’s food security. 

“Trukai will be working with the PNG University of Technology (Unitech) to facilitate the projects and the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) lwould also assist with the project delivery,”  Denovan said. 

“Alongside these two projects, Trukai will sponsor four Unitech students for over two years.

“This will ensure we have skilled agricultural researchers to help develop and grow the local rice industry.”

The first major project to be delivered by Trukai in collaboration with Unitech is the evaluation of new rice varieties to determine their suitability for growing in large and small-scale operations and under both irrigated and rain-fed conditions. 

The study would involve assessing 39 new rice varieties under varying conditions and evaluating their performance based on the following factors: grain quality, yield, pests and disease, drought tolerance and economics.  

The second phase will involve determining the areas in PNG best-suited to commercial rice production. 

Trukai also contributed a total of K225,000 for the study of rice suitability areas using the latest technology geographic information system (GIS), remote sensing (RS) and satellite imagery. 

Denovan said RS and GIS are very powerful tools for agricultural research and studying the suitability of the land. 

To decide the suitability of each area, criteria such as topography, soil properties, climate (including temperature and rainfall), water availability, land accessibility and infrastructure will be examined.

“Trukai is 100% committed to the future of the PNG rice industry; we have been a major supporter of PNG’s agricultural sector for 20 years, focusing not only on rice, but beef production and other cash crops,” Denovan said.