Trukai marks Rice Field Day in Morobe

By PHILMA SENGI
TRUKAI Industries celebrated a Rice Field Day with the inaugural Smart Farmer training programme certificate presentation and the harvesting of commercial rice at Trukai Erap farm on Friday.
More than 100 rice farmers each received a certificate in irrigated rice farming from the University of Technology.
Most of the farmers are from the Highlands and Mamose.
Among the 109 farmers were 27 women rice farmers.
Trukai Industries chief executive officer Alan Preston congratulated them for their hard work in passing the programme.
Preston advised them that the certificate was essential for Trukai Industries’ rice farming programme.
“We will continue to upskill and support you. The next step is to participate in the level one certificate in irrigated rice farming,” Preston said.
He hopes that through the Smart Farmer programme, farmers will be motivated to venture into semi-commercial and commercial farming by using what they have learnt.
“They should also work with relevant stakeholders in the agriculture sector to assist in their endeavours as rice farmers” Preston said.
The programme was conducted under a five-year partnership with Unitech’s agriculture department and the Pacific Adventist University, under the Trukai Smart farmer programme.
The Smart Farmer Program was established in 2022 and focused on building capacity in rice farming and supporting communities in PNG.
University of Technology vice-chancellor Professor Ora Renagi said if the university was doing something that had an impact on the people, then it was helping the people.
“When Trukai Industries approached me about the Smart Farmer programme, I was happy to partner with them because I knew it would greatly impact our people,” Renagi said.
Smart Farmer participants Gertrude Andrias and Noah Taugaloidi shared their dreams about empowering rural people to venture into sustainable farming activities to improve their livelihoods.
A rice harvest demonstration of 50 hectares was also conducted during Trukai’s Rice Field Day as part of the l 800 hectares of land allocated for commercial rice farming.
Providing one of the most extensive agricultural programmes, Trukai Industries invests millions of Kina in rice research, science, technology and development.