Working the land paying off

By PETER ESILA
A LOCAL businesswoman is going back to the soil, and has about 700 Mt Hagen and Highlands bananas to supply the Port Moresby market.
Agnes Piel, who is a successful Puma Energy cooking gas distributor, said last year, she brought 700 banana suckers, the Kenenga (long banana) and Membelg (short banana) all air freighted from Mt Hagen.
And customers can even harvest the produce for themselves.
Piel, from Western Highlands, is the director of Six Crowns Ltd trading as Taurama Gas Distributors in Port Moresby.
Next to Piel’s company’s base at Taurama is a piece of land that she uses for gardening, a hobby of hers.
“All 700 were planted last year and the rainy season really helped the bananas to grow,” she told The National.
“I spent a fair bit of money to air freight them from Mt Hagen.
“So far, I have harvested 18 bananas of the 700.
“Some of them are not ready yet.
“I started planting around this time last year when we were on lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there was not much to do so I decided to clean up a piece of land at Taurama.”
Kenenga and Membelg bananas have their cultural significances in the Highlands.
The bananas were usually used in feasts and bride price ceremonies.
“In our culture, they say you are truly a man, if you look after pigs and plant Kenenga and Membelg bananas,” she said.
She also planned to plant about 2,000 suckers on the nearby land uphill, and to enable people to buy and grow for themselves.
“Apart from bananas, we planted Morobe bananas, Hagen Ox and Palm taro, Morobe taro, Hagen sugar cane, Highlands yam, sweet corn and aibika,” she said.
“Some families asked for more bananas but they are not ready yet.
“They will be fully ready next week onwards. I have a list of families who already gave their names for the next harvest.
“It is a blessing.”
The mother of six believed hard work and putting God before everything else was important in her business.
“I encourage mothers not stay at home doing nothing but do small things like cooking food and selling ice blocks and to get to the next level to do SME (small to medium enterprise) business,” Piel said.
“Those who have land, do gardening, make use of your land.”
One of the first customers was lawyer Tony Noki.
“I heard from a few of my friends about the garden in Port Moresby where they successfully grew and harvested Highlands bananas – Kenenga and Membelg,” he said.
“These bananas are very expensive in the Highlands and it can cost up to a K120 or so to bring them to Port Moresby.
“I had the privilege to buy the fourth harvest and I am very satisfied. I am looking forward to buying the suckers for myself and growing them in my yard.
“The bananas are selling for K100 (per bunch).
“Agnes has paved the way for all Highlanders to grow these renowned bananas here in Port Moresby.
“I won’t be surprised that we have these bananas growing everywhere in Port Moresby soon.”