MOROBE Province has beaten Chimbu Province to secure the third highest ranking in coffee production in the country, according to the 2011 coffee production figures compiled by the Coffee Industry Corporation Ltd. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Coffee Industry Corporation Ltd (CIC) Navi Anis revealed that Morobe’s coffee production made a historic record of 91,051 while Chimbu’s production fell slightly at 71,174 bags with close to 20,000 bags difference. Mr Anis, however, said production figure for Chmbu Province may not reflect its true status, as coffee from the province are usually brought down to sell in Goroka and can be recorded under production figures for Eastern Highlands. Eastern Highlands Province led the production with 695,312 bags while Western Highlands Province with 543,893 bags.
The figures are usually collected and compiled by CIC through copies of sales dockets provided by coffee companies operating in each province. Meanwhile, an elated Morobe-based CIC’s provincial farmer training and extension coordinator, Simon Gesip, was delighted to hear the news and praised the effort of networking partners in the province, including Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program, Bris Kanda, Mainland Holdings Coffee Division, Morobe Provincial Government’s Extension arm of SSCF, all district Department of Agriculture Livestock officers and the coffee farmers in the provinces for their dedication and hard work. He said the achievement was through committed partnerships between these stakeholders. Another factor to the high production is the determination of the humble Morobe farmers to target selling their coffee in the high value international coffee markets.
Two advanced groups are the Neknasi Coffee Growers Corporative Group from Nawaeb District and the YUS Conservation Coffee from the remote Kabwum District. They are linked with Fairtrade (Australia & New Zealand) and America-based coffee company, Caffe’ Vita respectively.
Other coffee farmer groups in the nine districts of Morobe, including Finschaffen, Wau/Bulolo, Menyamya and Tewae/Siassi are preparing to follow suit. According to a recent socio-economic survey done by the National Research Institute, food crops is the leading agricultural produce of the province, followed by betelnut and coffee.
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