By Aloysius
Laukai
A delegation from
the Autonomous Region of Bougainville was in Rabaul last week to study the
effects of the cocoa pod borer in East New Britain.
The team was
headed by the Minister for economic services, Dominic Itta, and included primary
Industry officers, district commissioners, quarantine, airline and shipping
workers, and private cocoa buyers.
The 48-person
team arrived in Rabaul on Monday and were met by East New Britain government
officials and had a meeting with the staff of the PNG Cocoa Coconut Institute
at Kerevat.
They also visited
the National Agriculture Research Institute and several cocoa blocks affected
by the cocoa pod borer.
The aim of the
trip was to make all stakeholders aware of the dangers of cocoa pod borer and
other pests commuting through cargo and people moving between East New Britain
and Bougainville.
Two weeks ago,
Bougainville put checkpoints on all airports and seaports to restrict the
movements of plants and animals between the two places.
The trip to
Rabaul was funded by AusAID and the team returned to Buka at the weekend.
Cocoa growers should contact Agmark for information on managing cocoa pod borer. They are offering their knowledge and inhouse developed resources (brochures, posters, DVDs, training and farmer/community information workshops) to any intersted cocoa grower.
Training attracts some small charge for accommodation at Tokila but farmer informaiton workshops are free as are the information materials.
Posted by: Geoff. Whebell | 12 May 2009 at 09:00 AM