Articles

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a highland plant. However, some varieties of potatoes can be grown in the lowlands. Potatoes are still a rare commodity on the island of Wetar. Potatoes imported from the island of Java, though the price is expensive.  Our farmers want to plant potatoes in Wetar. Before plant in their garden, we must test them in experimental gardens of PT Batutua.

We bought 3 varieties of potatoes, named Granola Lembang, Granola s Australia and granola kembang kuning. We planted the potatoes under protection of paranet to reduce sunshine intensity. We mixed compost and chicken manure in 3 beds than plant the potatoes in those beds.

Potatoes planted on June 17, 2012 and harvested on September 4, 2012. We dev divided potatoes bulb into three grades, namely the large and given the quality grade A, grade B given medium, small defects and bulbous given grade C. Average weight per tree for the three varieties was 0.41 kg / tree. When viewed per variety, the average weight for Granola perpohon Purple Flower bulbs have a heavier (0.56 kg / tree), followed by granola Lembang (0.40 kg / tree) and the last Granola Australia (0.32 Kg / tree). Based on these data, the best results the first harvest of potatoes in the garden is an example of Purple Flower Potato Granola, second best and third best Lembang Granola Granola Australia.

Taste test conducted by Pak Rizal from the kitchen BTR and Ibu Mia Soenan, Comdev manager. Test results showed that the fries taste more savory and fresh compared to potatoes imported via Kupang, NTT. These potatoes are crisp and well liked by some people who come to enjoy the fries. Therefore, in the future Comdev will try once again to plant potatoes in the garden experiment and if the results are good then the next will be recommended for planting in the garden farmers under the monitoring and evaluation of Comdev BTR.

Located between Morobe and Madang Province, Teptep was one happy recipient of training, supported by EU climate change action.

At the altitude of 2100 masl, the temperature is as cold as any highlands province in Papua New Guinea.

Dare to say, crops as English potato, broccoli, garlic and even apples are growing there.

Back in the days, Teptep was known for supplying fresh vegetables into the cities through Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), however due to high freight cost, the vigor died.

At the Airstrip are remnants of the once was cool storage room.

The Action, made a visit on the 2nd of October to the site following a prior visit by the site coordinator and poultry scientist Mr. Elly Solomon.

On this mission was EU Action Technical coordinator Crops , Mr. Jeffery Waki being the team leader with Mr. Arthur Roberts, aquaculture specialist and Ms. Miriam Simin, for Post harvest and food processing, with provided technical assistance from Mr. Phillip Lali. Present were 96 farmer village representatives inclusive of both genders, young and old.

The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade funded drought and climate change mitigation activity has had a focus on training and resourcing village farmers with improved planting material.

Kaukau (kumara/sweet potato) is a village staple for almost all highlanders but the recent drought made conditions very suitable for plague level problems with two or three species of introduced weevil. The weevil eats into the tubers and makes them toxic to man and pig alike.

So, providing new crop options has been one part of the strategy. Thousands of cuttings of cassava and hundreds of African yam mini sets have been distributed. Even though the African yam performs best in really warm conditions farmers have been excited to see good sized yams produced.

Most of the yams have been sourced by our Activity team from around a home base in Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province.

The dolly cross, everlasting and lima beans that were sown a few days back have now sprouted. Not only that, the nursery patch also had other vegetables coming in from Taiwan and New Zealand. Much of the seeds were from of the same family with varying origins.

Planting all in the same plot will promote cross pollination! To prevent such from happening and to get pure seeds, planting area was kept far from each other. Similar seeds were sent to NARI Aiyura for further propagation One of our partners, the Lutheran Development Agency have networks.

Thanks to permission from the National Agriculture Quarantine service the Activity was able to bring Rhizobium to assist with both peanut and soybean nodulation. Rhizobium help legumes fix nitrogen – crucial to their ability to improve soil fertility and provide high protein seeds for human and animal use.

Thanks also to Ben Heyward – here looking at nodules with women in Tsak Valley. (The Tsak Valley in Enga province had surprisingly good nodulation in their legumes – quite a different picture in other parts of the highlands that were checked).

A week long training workshop was held from 13 – 17 May at the Sir Alkan Tololo Research Centre, Bubia as part of a capacity building of partners of the EU supported drought resilience project that we are implementing.

A total of 18 participants mostly rural extension workers from the Southern and the New Islands region attended the workshop covering a range of areas tailored towards building climate resilient agriculture and food systems in vulnerable rural communities.

The training covered various topics including: livestock, seed systems of crops, post harvest and processing’ nursery establishment, soil and water management, sustainable farming, rice cultivation and processing, and fish farming.

Additional demonstration were conducted for training also provided an

At a recent in-service training workshop for extension officers in PNG, seeds of two grain legumes (and many other crop types) were given to the departing participants.

These two beans are Dolichos lablab and Lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus). They provide food for people and livestock as well as nitrogen rich green manure in short term fallows as shown below.

The approximately 30 stakeholders from Rural Development Officers, DAL/DPI, church and NGO groups were keen to learn about varied agricultural topics – plant, livestock and soil – including food preservation and feed processing.

Folk wanted to be able to read in the evenings. Some didn’t have any electric power. They knew of panels and batteries – of course – but the crucial importance of solar controllers was a mystery – and how to do the required calculations – another mystery.

Dave Askin had a couple of enjoyable sessions setting up lights, switches, panel, and battery – complete with controller. They set it up, learning as they went.

Gall mite has been around for quite a while. When it’s bad, it can be really bad. The microscopic sized mite causes galls (bumps) on the leaves, leaf petioles and stems of infected kaukau plants. Those galls can really interfere with water and nutrient movement up and down the plant. That means greatly reduced yield when the infestation is severe.

It’s particularly galling, pun intended… when we realise it’s not that hard to control. Just never use vine that is infected for planting a new garden. Sadly there’s plenty of villagers who don’t know this.

Also, the literature says there are varieties of Kaukau that the mite doesn’t seem to infect. We need those. Anyone know which lines in PNG are resistant to this little nasty?

What should people do if an infestation really gets away? Well, we are trialling up in Enga two sprays of Orthene a week apart. Watch this space. We will share our results. We need to be using a systemic insecticide as the mite is hidden inside the plant. Hence the systemic requirements.

Desmon from Wapenamanda came visiting and was amazed at the benefit to taro of using simple grass clippings as mulch under taro.

The two photos (shorter crop without mulch, taller crop wtih mulch) show improved NARI Taro with and without these grass mulch clippings.

People in Southern areas of PNG are concerned about Papuan Black snakes that enjoy mulch. What do you think? Is the mulch likely to create big problems for the gardeners?

Tomato-F1 ‘Waad Rijk Zwaan’- Experiment in Wetar, MBD

There are five variants of Tomato-F1 ‘Waad Rijk Zwaan’ which are grown. Each participants plant twenty five seeds of tomato in nursery bed. There are 17 participants on this experiment; six farmers in Lurang, six farmers in Kampung Baru and five farmers in Uhak. But, all the experiments in Kampung Baru are failed, except the seed in Umar Aleng’s garden. Whereas, the seeds planted in Lurang and Uhak can grow well. This failure is because the farmers are not able to maintain the seeds when they are placed in the nursery bed.

This variety has a resistance to the disease and insect that usually attack the plant. Based on the observation and direct documentation in the farmers garden, there is no rotten fruit at all and not attacked by fruit fly. The farmers are also happy because the appearance is smooth and sleek, i also love it because the taste is sweet and able to be eaten directly.

The NZMFAT funded team are increasing food resilience for village farmers in some of the simplest ways possible. The really poor in PNG remain isolated and good quality planting materials are hard to come by.

Yams are not for everyone. The African yam is wonderful, but only in warmer areas. Luckily there’s plenty of warm areas in PNG. Here is what David and Anna Kulimbao are sharing-

‘These yams I bought at the Goroka market. When we cut these yams into pieces we can get 10-15 pieces in one yam alone and that is good for farmers to plant These yams are meant for ‘seed’ planting in each of the farmers’ gardens So far we have distributed 44 yams in Wapenamanda and Wabag and Kompiam in Enga Province. The recent ones that I bought today  and the day before yesterday I will give it to the Simbu farmers and some will go to Enga people. Thankyou Virginia and DA and Ben for your heartfelt support given to the local farmers in Enga and Chimbu Province  Cheers DK and AK’