By Sylvester Gawi – EM TV, Lae
PNG’s Agriculture Minister, Tommy Tomscoll, has called on all rice distributors to start planting and producing rice in Papua New Guinea.
Minister Tomscoll made this call today during the Trukai Rice field day at the Erap Agriculture station, outside of Lae. He says the government is working on a policy to revoke licenses for import rice distributors who don’t comply.
The production of rice in Papua New Guinea is expected to double in the next three years, as the government makes a policy for major rice distributors to venture into planting rice.
Tomscoll says, the national government wants to see local people involved in managing hectares of rice farms in the country.
Once the government passes the policy, imported rice distributors in Papua New Guinea must grow and produce their rice onshore or the government will have their trading licenses revoked.
This move comes after the government’s ban on imported chicken from overseas. The poultry ban now allows local production to increase, expecting a rise in income for local people.
The rice production policy is a step forward by the government to promote food security in the country.
The Trukai Rice and Agricultural Development field day today displayed Trukai’s production strength from paddy to plate.
The agriculture minister congratulated Trukai on behalf of the government, in involving local communities in the production of rice in PNG.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=BEntpJPyRSQ%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26wmode%3Dopaque%26showinfo%3D0%26showsearch%3D0%26rel%3D0
