The National, 01st May 2012
http://www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/32151
By ABIGAIL APINA

RICE farming has taken Gazelle district, East New Britain province, by storm, a recent report says. The report, compiled by Gazelle district and released last month, said with the population explosion experienced in many parts of the province, the district adopted rice farming to address food security and to further diversify its agricultural activities. The report said there were now several hundred active rice farmers in the district. It said since rice farming was introduced in 2009-10, an estimated K600,000 had been allocated by the Gazelle joint district planning and budget priority committee to the infant industry. It said with farmers facing problems with the cocoa pod borer, they were struggling to make ends meet.

The report said cocoa production in the district went down by nearly 80% between 2007 and 2009, causing people to neglect their cocoa patches and resorting to other crops such as rice and copra. Gazelle MP Malakai Tabar pumped more funding into rice farming. The report said the district introduced the rice intervention programme and allocated an initial K120,000 funding support with the primary objective of providing an alternative agricultural activity. The Gazelle joint district planning and budget priority committee approved the purchase of 12 rice milling machines at a cost of K144,000 to begin the programme.

The report said an additional five milling machines were bought for K35,000 and later three large milling machines were bought for K168,000 to meet demand as interest among farmers rose, Rice farmer and senior trainer Peter Birau, who now heads the rice intervention programme, said in the latter part of 2010 and early 2011 most people in the district were buying rice locally. He said rice farming was being undertaken by everyone in the community, including school children and churches. “As more people venture into the industry, there is great need for more training and more technical information to reach the farmers for quality control,” Birau said. He said farmers needed to be trained on post-harvest methods in drying and milling to produce quality rice.