COCOA LIGHTS UP REMOTE KARIMUI

 

A family with their cocoa bags ready for airlift to Goroka.

Million cocoa trees growing in Karimui

By MICHAEL KOMA in Kundiawa

In Chimbu’s Karimui district, there is a new sound, a new taste and a new love – cocoa.

From a trial in 2012, Karimui has moved forward with cocoa this decade.

In 2012 agriculture officers in the Chimbu capital Kundiawa collected dried cocoa beans from the Cocoa and Copra Research Institute (CCRI) in Kerevat, East New Britain for trialing in Karimui.

Karimui is on the border with three other provinces, Gulf, Eastern Highlands and Southern Highlands.

Provincial crops officer and current provincial agriculture advisor Eric Gore said 3,000 cocoa seeds were planted in a nursery at the Karimui agriculture station and the seedlings were transplanted to plots at Yuro and Bosiamaru on the fertile Karimui plateau in 2013.

The first harvest, packed in sixteen 60kg bags, was transported to the CCRI in ENBP for quality tests prior to sales.

Test results indicated extraordinary results: almost all the dried cocoa beans from Karimui weighed a staggering 5.7mg each with a strong aroma unlike seeds brought in from the established cocoa plantations in the coastal provinces.

Dried cocoa seeds from ENBP weighs about 3.7mg while those coming in from Bougainville were placed on the third spot on 3.5mg. The rest of the cocoa-growing provinces recorded less than 3.7mg.

The following year 2014, 32 bags were transported to the same location which reaped the same results with a monetary value in thousands of kina.

Motivated with convincing results the provincial administration deployed three agricultural officers to Karimui to establish cocoa nurseries. The seedlings were distributed free to prospective cocoa farmers for actual planting.

Between 2015 and 2016 cocoa farmers obtained ripe cocoa pods from established farmers for nursery and planting due to the monetary value. Since most ripe pods were taken away for planting no sales of dried cocoa beans were recorded during that period (2015-2016).

In 2017, Karimui exported 129 bags of dried cocoa beans which sold for K3 per kilogram.

Between 2018-20, 1,366 bags were sold to two Karimui-based buyers; Norman Mondo and Tony Yagu for K5 per kilogram.
In 2021 local cocoa farmers collectively sold 1,433 bags, which netted K600,000 amid increased production.

Karimui area alone has 1,094 cocoa farmers and the number is increasing.

Gore said each farmer has approximately 500 cocoa trees on his plot while Norman Mondo grows about 600,000. The (1,094) farmers are scattered in places like Negabo, Talpakul, Madi, Haia, Noru, Yogromaru, Sogo and Bomai.

They collectively grow about 1.1 million cocoa trees as more villagers are clearing their land to grow cocoa seedlings obtained from established farmers.

Since early last year agricultural officers are embarking on cloning of cocoa trees to find a variety that would yield to expectation and withstand pests and disease.

Two problems encountered by the farmers are the high cost of airfreight as aviation firms charge K3 for each kilogram of dried cocoa beans flown out to either Goroka or Kundiawa airstrips.

Farmers have opted to sell their produce to Mondo and Yagu in Karimui.

The provincial administration in Kundiawa is in the process of signing a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), SDA Aviation and North Coast Aviation to subsidise the cost of airfreight.

The administration had acquired seven cocoa dryers (at the cost of K17,000 each) to enable farmers to dry their harvest before selling them to buyers.

German settlers introduced the crop for the first time into Papua New Guinea in the 1800s.

Dried cocoa beans were exported to foreign countries for chocolate and milo production including other by-products.

Cocoa has boosted the national economy through revenue generation and employment creation for more than a century.

Cocoa bags arriving in Goroka

Agricultural research indicated cocoa grows well in low-altitude areas like East and West New Britain, Bougainville, East & West Sepik, Manus, New Ireland and Madang provinces.

Slight increment in humidity in the face of Global Warming has made it suitable for low-altitude areas like Karimui, in South Chimbu, to venture into cocoa production for revenue generation.

Cocoa Industry Board has established it’s Highlands’ Regional Cocoa Office in Kundiawa which is manned by Peter Bapiwai as the regional cocoa officer.

Other locations where farmers are venturing into cocoa production are Gumine, Kerowagi, Waghi Valley in Chimbu, Nebilyer, Mul-Baiyer in Western Highlands, Kagua Erave in Southern Highlands and parts of the Eastern Highlands Province.

Bapiwai has described cocoa as an alternative cash crop apart from coffee in the face of climatic change in the face of Global Warming.

He said cocoa production was fruitful in selective parts of the Highlands due mostly to the natural geography and Altitudes Above Sea Level (ASL).

Gore said Karimui cocoa cannot be compared to those produced in other areas, especially the coastal areas, as Karimui is located 1,400 metres ASL.

The provincial administration has staged a historical cocoa show (exhibition) at the Dickson Field in Kundiawa in April 2021.
Karimui is located about 400km south of Kundiawa and is only accessible by light aircraft.

The Simbu provincial government has recently announced that his government would vigorously push for the completion of the proposed Karimui-Gumine highway during his tenure.