Vegetable supply falls

 THE volume of fresh produce supplied from the Highlands is decreasing, according to Clifton Gwabu from the National Agricultural Research Institute.

He said 5,600 tonnes of fresh produce was supplied, which was well below the demand of 80,000 tonnes.

Gwabu, a participant in the Central and National Capital District vegetable forum in Port Moresby recently, said the country paid K10 million on vegetable import – eight times higher than the world average price.

“The objective of this forum is to provide awareness to stakeholders and get input from them to come up with a number of practical policies for the government to initiate a way forward,” he said.

“The four-year project, which was carried out at Tapini and Sogeri, saw that K1.4 million could be obtained from 20ha of cabbage under the current price while 20ha of broccoli stand at K3.2 million,” Gwabu said.

He said Tapini and Sogeri were chosen as project sites because they had higher altitudes similar to altitudes in the Highlands.