Study shows cocoa can be grown in Hela, SHP

Posted on The National Weekender

A RECENT graduate of the University of Technology in Lae says cocoa can be grown in Hela and Southern Highlands to bump up the country’s annual production and export revenue flows from the crop.
Wesley Jacob Wambi, from Ialibu in Southern Highlands is a geologist who has worked in the mining industry for seven years and returned to Unitech to do a Masters of Science in Satellite Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems and graduated last month.
His thesis toward that award was based on the suitability of cocoa as a cash crop in Hela and Southern Highlands, better known for the multi-billion kina oil and gas industries.
Introduction
Cocoa is the second major cash crop in PNG after coffee. Lister 12th among cocoa producing nations of the world, PNG has been in the loop by contributing 41,000 tonnes of cococoa per annum, according to statistics released last September.
However, production has dropped significantly due to the outbreak of the cocoa pod borer disease in 2015.
Cocoa production in PNG is also restricted in coastal, warm areas in New Guinea Islands, Momase and some parts of Papuan regions. This has restricted the country’s capacity to produce more. With changing climate conditions and also the increased technology of genetics and hybrid cocoa seedlings, there is a possibility of cocoa to be grown up in the highlands region of PNG.
Karimui of Chimbu province is the first highlands province that has successfully cultivated cocoa through the technical support from Cocoa Coconut Research Institute of PNG. Producing quality cocoa with 35-70 cocoa pods per tree at an altitude of 1,500 m above sea level is a first which is welcome news for other highlands provinces.
For this study, soil science and suitability analysis was carried out to delineate potential, if any, for cocoa cultivation in Hela and SHP. The study involved the use of GIS and geo-spatial multi-criteria decision making approach.
Parameters of the study
A total of nine geographic parameters were fed as input into the GIS environment. These include temperature, rainfall, soil texture, ph, nitrogen, phosphorus and slope. Specific analyses involved were map manipulation and overlay, surface analysis, spatial interpolation, data management and data conversion. Each respective spatial technique was carried out through data input, processing and finally to produce output results.
The result of the analysis revealed that 25 per cent (6273 square km) and 30 per cent (744 square km) are very highly and highly suitable respectively while 31 per cent (7864 square km) of the study area is moderately suitable for cocoa cultivation.
In places where cocoa has never been grown before, the only way to prove the suitability of the soil is to plant trials as an experiment at start. This study therefore highly recommended that the concern government authorities in the provinces should start planting trial hybrid cocoa clones at small scale in some of those areas that are highly suitability to plant cocoa.
A further prospect scale study is still open to those areas that will first implement and cultivate cocoa. This study will zoom into detail on actual availability of the land, land accessibility, and social and economic constrains.
Soil suitability
Soil suitability analysis is a scientific approach that provides information on constraints and opportunities for land use that aid in proper decision-making for optimal use of land resources.
This analytical approach involves processing of soil data including scientific, topographic, physical and chemical properties of soil, climate and land accessibility.
These assist farmers, agricultural scientists and other land administrators to fully utilise the land resources for potential cash crop cultivation.
Situated near the tropics, PNG has been known for cocoa cultivation and production which contributed enormously towards the country’s GDP. Its contribution to the world market has been well regarded and was rated 12th among leading cocoa producing countries (web document, 2018).
Cocoa is a well-adapted agro-forestry plantation crop grown in hot, rainy climates with cultivation concentrated in the band between 0 to 20 degree north and south of the equator. This band is sometimes called the cocoa belt (Herman, 1989).
In PNG, cocoa is the second most important agriculture cash crop delivering an income of US$96.3 million (K318 million) in 2015. Some 60 per cent of its income goes directly to the growers, 90 per cent of whom are smallholder farmers. Around 14 per cent of the population (more than 1 million people) rely on cocoa production and exports for most of their livelihood.
The Cocoa Industry Strategic Plan for 2016-2025 underlines that investments in cocoa will benefit the majority of the population in PNG and contribute positively to the nation’s sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Although there are few plantations of different cash crops from medium to large scale, agriculture contribution towards the country’s GDP is much below its potential at present (Samanta et al. 2011). Unlike any other agriculture systems adopted by other highlands provinces, SHP and Hela have yet to develop strong cash cropping components.
Although it is mainly known as the principal ingredient for chocolate, there are other products derived from cacao beans; cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, cocoa cake and cocoa powder (Hermann et al. 2002).
Origin and distribution
The genus Theobroma originated in the Amazon and Orinoca basins and subsequently spread to Central America, particularly Mexico. Whitlock et al (2001) suggested that the region extending from the forests of Amazon to the Orinoco and Tabasco in South Maxico to be the centre of the origin of cocoa. Schulter (1984) predicts that cacao dispersed along two roots, one leading north and the other to the west. Later, Cortés, a Spaniard, carried cocoa to Spain in 1520s and used it as a beverage as well as a crop for cultivation. It was the Spaniards who also introduced the crop into Equatorial Guinea in the 17th century.
In PNG, cocoa was introduced by German settlers around 1900. Smallholder blocks were established on the Gazelle Peninsulla in East New Britain, around Lae in Morobe and Popondetta in Northern.
Smallholder production was concentrated in ENB and Bougainville and these two provinces have continued to dominant the smallholder sector (Ben, 2015). Of the 22 provinces, 14 have planted cocoa at various levels from smallholders to plantations scale.
Scope of research
The present study was based on spatial multi-criteria decision-making approach for suitability analysis. The study is limited to Southern Highland and Hela.
In this study, the geographical data were combined and transformed into decision. Topographic analysis was done by extracting DEM of the study area from the 90m resolution DEM map of PNG.
Soil database was prepared to analyse chemical and physical properties of the soil from the soil information extracted from the PNGRIS.
The two climatic condition; temperature and rainfall data were also prepared from the PNGRIS database. A land use/land cover map for the study area was also prepared using supervised classification in ERDAS Imagine version 8.5.
Like any other studies, there are certain limitations. In this study, the time, resources, and cost were the limiting factors that were taken into account. It is very costly to travel all throughout Hela and SHP to collect soil samples. Laboratory preparation and analysis is also very expensive. Thus the multi-criteria decision making approach and GIS were combined to analysis available soil data and other required dataset.
Final cocoa suitability map
The final weighted suitability map was created using the raster calculator from the spatial analyst tool.
The map was then reclassified into five different suitability levels to zoom into the area of interest. The classes were classified as very highly suitable, highly, moderate, low, and very low or not suitable.
The results obtained show that 6,273 square km land is very highly suitable for cocoa cultivation covering 25 per cent of the project area. The second class has 7447 square km of land been highly suitable for cocoa cultivation and covers 30 per cent of land area.
This has few limitations to fully consider for being highly suitable. Those places that have been classified as moderate, low or very low have some limitations where the required conditions for cocoa to grow well are lacking.
Conclusion and recommendations
From the results, it is concluded that one quarter of Hela and SHP land is very highly suitable for cocoa cultivation and production. It is now the responsibility of the concerned authorities, district and provincial agriculture boards to make a bold decision to test those places that have high potential.
Cocoa has never been grown before in Hela and SHP so to test out those very high suitability areas, little can be done until results of trial plantings are available.
Thus it is recommended that those concerned should start planting trial cocoa seedlings as an experiment in those highly suitable areas.
This will open doors for a new study that can zoom in on the areas of interest.
District or provincial administrations can conduct detailed studies in terms of actual land available for trial plantings and also the social and economic aspects of any such project as well as constraints and opportunities presented.

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/study-shows-cocoa-can-be-grown-in-hela-shp/

Where do Tok Pisin words come from?

By Professor Craig Volker on Weekender National

IN these monthly discussions we answer one question about language in PNG and beyond. This month we are looking at the origins of words in Tok Pisin.
The historical connection between English and Tok Pisin is obvious. This is why we often call Tok Pisin “Pidgin English”. But where do all the non-English words come from and why are even many English words used differently in Tok Pisin than in English?
The vast majority of Tok Pisin words come from English, although often their meaning has changed. Sometimes the change is the softening of an English swear word. The first English speakers Pacific Islanders encountered were sailors, who were not hesitant to use swear words. The Pacific Islanders who met them could not tell a swear word from a harmless word, so they ended up using expressions such as “mi bagarap” (from English “buggered” or “buggery”, an old rude word for “sodomy”) and “sit bilong paia” (literally, the “shit of the fire”) for “ashes”.
Some English expressions were drastically shortened Perhaps the best example of this is “olsem” (“like”, “similar”), which is how early Pacific Islanders heard “all the same”. The English language has changed since the 1800s, so some English words used then which made their way into Tok Pisin are no longer used in modern English. We no longer use “gammon”, for example, which became Tok Pisin “giaman”, or “by and by”, which first became the marker of future action “baimbai”,later shortened to “bai” and today even “ba”.
Other English words were used by Melanesians with meanings from their own languages. In many languages, the word for “brother” means “a sibling of the same sex” and the word for “sister” means “a sibling of the opposite sex”. Early Tok Pisin speakers used the same meanings, so that a woman would speak of “brata bilong mi, Maria” and “susa bilong mi, Adam”. Similarly, in many areas we speak of “ai bilong haus” (literally “eye of the house”) for “the front door” or “front yard”, a literal translation from Austronesian languages. Very Pacific wordings such as this show that Tok Pisin was a creation by Pacific Islanders and not, as some people still believe, something consciously taught or introduced by Germans or other Europeans.
Even though the Portuguese never colonised Melanesia, Tok Pisin has several words from Portuguese, such as “save” (Portuguese “saber” / “know”), “pikinini” (Portuguese “pequeno” / “small”). These are common to pidgin and creole languages around the world and reflect the early pidgin Portuguese varieties that developed wherever the Portuguese settled in Asia.
Later English-speaking sailors came in contact with these varieties and tried to use these words whenever they came across people with whom they could not communicate. The first Melanesians they encountered could not, of course, tell the difference between the Portuguese and English words they heard from the sailors’ mouths and so took up save and pikinini along with English words.
The first speakers of Tok Pisin were Austronesian speakers who found that they could use words that were common in Austronesian languages when speaking to speakers of other Austronesian speakers in Tok Pisin. This is how words common across many Austronesian languages, including Malay, such as “susu” (“milk”, “breast”) entered the language. When Malay-speaking workers were brought to the Gazelle Peninsula and plantations in Madang, they also brought the word “binatang”, which means “animal” in Malay, but “insect” in Tok Pisin. Perhaps this was because they thought New Guinea insects were as fierce as the tigers and elephants back home?
New Guinea was colonised by Germany, with the colonial capital in Kokopo. It is therefore not surprising that early Tok Pisin has many German and Kuanua (Tolai) words. At one time most of the words for tools and household items came from German. Later as generations of Papua New Guineans have had education in English, most words adapted from German, such as “srang” (closet, cupboard) and “hebel” (lever) have been replaced by English words. Nevertheless, there are still a number of German-derived words in Tok Pisin, such as “tabak” (tobacco) and, in some areas, beten (pray).
As the centre of Tok Pisin has moved away from the Gazelle Peninsula, many words of Tolai origin, such as “limlimbur” have been replaced by words from English (“wokabaut”). Many words from Kuanua and New Ireland languages related to it do remain, however, especially those such as masalai (“spirit”) and “kulau” (young coconut” that describe things that are particularly Melanesian and not European.
Christianity was introduced to Melanesia around the same time that Melanesians were developing Tok Pisin to speak to each other. The languages of the early missionaries brought a number of words still used in church circles today. German beten has already been mentioned. Other words include “bogen” (“arch”) from German, “pater” (“priest”) from Latin, and “lotu” and “talatala” (“preacher”) from Polynesian languages.
The origins of two common words, “maski” (“never mind”) and “sanguma” (“sorcerer”, “sorcery”) have long been difficult to ascertain. Dr Karl Franklin of SIL has found evidence that “maski” comes from an expression in a southern Chinese language that made its way into the pidgin Portuguese of Macau and later the pidgin English of Hong Kong. Sailors stopping at those ports picked up the expression and used it on the first ships that came to Melanesia.
“Sanguma” is still a mystery. An almost identical word with the same meaning, “sangoma”, is commonly used in southern Africa today. It is quite possible that German colonial workers travelling between German Southwest Africa (today Namibia) and German New Guinea carried the word from one of their colonies to the other, but there is no evidence to back up this hypothesis.
As we have seen, while English has been the basis for Tok Pisin vocabulary, Tok Pisin speakers have adapted these words to fit their way of speaking and thinking, while at the same time also adopting words from other languages that they spoke or encountered. Tok Pisin is very much a Melanesian creation, but it can trace the roots of its vocabulary to languages from around the world.

• Professor Volker is a linguist living in New Ireland, and an Adjunct Professor in The Cairns Institute, James Cook University in Australia. He welcomes your language questions for this monthly discussion at craig.volker@jcu.edu.au. Or continue the discussion on the Facebook Language Toktok page.

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/where-do-tok-pisin-words-come-from/

Two Moukele flowers bloom

By Rev SEIK PITOI - The Weekender National

ON Friday, April 26, 2019, two beautiful “flowers” from Fisherman Island or Daugo, which is off the coast of Port Moresby, blossomed.
The island, which is also called Moukele by the community of fishermen originally from Hula in the Central province, celebrated the achievements of two of their daughters who had graduated with degrees from the University of Papua New Guinea.
I had the opportunity to sit and chat over a cup of tea with a father of one of the girls recently. Keimelo Gima is a senior lecturer in the Humanities department at the university, while he serves on the island as a United Church deacon.
As an educationist, he was one of a group of parents who played a big part in the establishment of a school for the children on the island in the late 1980s.
“The school plays a big part in giving our children the initial education they need to qualify for secondary school which they will attend in certain high schools in the city. Our school caters for students from elementary to Grade 8,” he said. In his spare time, Keimelo often teaches reading classes for the children.
That day, the deacon-cum-academic had the joy of seeing his daughter, Cathy, graduate with a Batchelor of Arts degree with honours in Gender Studies. Having previously attained a graduate diploma from the University of Goroka in Secondary teaching, Cathy is currently employed as a research officer with the National Research Institute (NRI). Keimelo’s other children have also attained tertiary qualifications, while his sportsman son Gimapau Keimelo has excelled in cricket and rugby union.
The other “flower” is Gennie Repanama Augerea, a first cousin to Cathy. Gennie graduated with a Batchelor of Science degree in Chemistry. Her graduation brought tears to many of her family and friends because the most important person she would have wanted to witness this special day was not with her. The unfortunate passing of her father just a couple of months before her big day made for a rather sad occasion.
Her father, Repanama Augerea, a senior banker with the microfinance industry based in Kimbe, had suffered a massive heart attack last year in November. As he was recovering from that initial attack, he underwent another attack in December, necessitating a medical evacuation to Port Moresby. In January this year, he passed away.
He had told his daughter, whom he was always proud of, that he would make sure he was present when she received her award. Sadly, that was not to be.
I was privileged to get to know Gennie last year. As her chaplain in my first year in the post, I had tried to get acquainted with my United Church students throughout the year. However, due to study commitments and other reasons, not all students were faithful in attending service – except for Gennie.
Her commitment to the work of the Lord, and her support for our little congregation, was second to none. She did not take up a leadership position in our fellowship, however, her dedication far outshone those who had been voted in as leaders. In fact, when they all went AWOL partway through the year, Gennie remained steadfast, making sure to attend service and taking part in the activities of the church.
Last year, I had rostered two of our students to deliver the final sermons over the two remaining Sundays prior to school closure. Genie was one of them. She preached her message on the love of God and sang a beautiful Gospel song in her Hula language to complement her sermon.
That final exam week, my wife and I cooked a meal for her and dropped in to visit her as she and other students were in the library studying. She came out and we had a prayer with her and a couple of her colleagues in the car park before leaving them with their tray of food. That was the last time we saw Gennie. After exams, as all the students left for their homes, she too left. It was only a couple of months later that we were told by a fellow student of her father’s passing.
I had the honour of sitting in the VIP section on the morning of the graduation. This was because I was asked to offer a dedicatory prayer at the start of the graduation ceremony. Having done that, I was able to sit back and witness the students as they came forward to receive their awards. As Gennie came forward, a deep sense of sadness overcame me as I saw tears welling up in her eyes. Her father was not standing with her mother and her siblings as they applauded her! His presence was clearly missed. Nonetheless, Gennie and her cousin Cathy made the people of Moukele proud that day.
As we wound up our time together that morning in the UPNG Coffee Shop, Deacon Keimelo expressed his concern that while they had worked hard to establish the community school on the island some 30 odd years ago, not one student had graduated from university yet. He said they had a student get into University of Goroka but withdrew halfway through the first year.
Moreover, both Cathy and Gennie spent very little time on the island and are actually products of Gordon Secondary and Marienville Secondary Schools respectively. But being local Moukele girls, their graduation is still a bonus for the community.
In challenging the young people, elder Gima said: “I would like to see parents encouraging their children to take school seriously. We are fishermen and that is what our children are good at. During the bech-de-mer season, young boys can make K50 a day with no problem.
“They are more comfortable in the sea than sitting in a classroom. But that has to change. A good education will ensure their future is secure.”
On the achievements of the two girls, he urged the boys saying, “Come on, sons, we can do better. The girls are beating us. Let’s see which boy can go through the community school on the island and move on to graduate with a degree like Cathy and Gennie!”
I suppose the two girls have thrown down the gauntlet. The challenge is on the guys. I’d like to echo Deacon Gima’s call: “Come on, sons. We can do it!”

• Rev Seik Pitoi is a freelance writer.

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/two-moukele-flowers-bloom/

I am not acting prime minister, says Sir Julius

Posted by The National

SIR Julius Chan has clarified that he is not the acting prime minister as many are assuming, although he will be honoured to be considered for the substantive position if it becomes vacant.
“I have not been designated any ministerial role by Peter O’Neill,” he said in a statement
Sir Julius said there was a big misunderstanding about what was mentioned at a press conference with O’Neill on Sunday.
“First, the existing prime minister has no power to nominate a new prime minister of his choice,” he said.
“Peter O’Neill simply designated me the provisional caretaker of the Government coalition.”
He said O’Neill did the “honourable thing” by respecting the desire of the people, of the country to step down.
“He simply asked me to help by maintaining order among the members of the coalition and helping the coalition to work with all parliamentary members to make a wise and uniting decision concerning who should become the next prime minister,” Sir Julius said.
Sir Julius said he was not seeking to become prime minister, a position he has held twice already.
“It is kind of funny. I have been approached by both the Opposition and Government sides to consider becoming prime minister but I have not been seeking the job. I do not need the job, frankly. I have plenty of work to do in New Ireland.
“I am governor of my province and legally remain so unless I am called to take up a post at the national level and sworn in as such. ”
He is however keeping his options open.
“If we are honest, we have to admit the country is facing huge problems,” he said. “If the members of Parliament, both Opposition and Government, feel I can contribute to dealing with those problems over the next year or two, then I am willing to do whatever I am asked to do to help make that happen.”

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/i-am-not-acting-prime-minister-says-sir-julius/

Court asked to clarify vote

Posted by The National

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill has asked the Supreme Court to ensure clarity of constitutional and legal processes in relation to the process for a proposed vote of no confidence.
In a statement yesterday, he said “events over the past weeks” had led to “confusion in the constitutional process regarding the withdrawal of a notice of motion of no confidence”.
He has therefore filed an application to the Supreme Court to interpret Sections 99, 111, 142 and 145 of the Constitution.
“The recent lodgment and subsequent withdrawal of a motion for a vote of no confidence is unprecedented in the history of our Parliament,” he said.
“The lodgment of a motion of no confidence is a serious constitutional process. This is being treated disrespectfully as a negotiating tool in a numbers game, and the position of prime minister should not be offered as a bribe to cross the floor of Parliament.
“As the Government we have an obligation to ensure that correct processes and the rule of law is followed.
“I am seeking the Supreme Court’s interpretation of relevant legislation to ensure proper guidelines are set and followed, and this is in the interest of all parties.”
The court process comes as Parliament prepares to resume sitting today, with 67 MPs in the Opposition camp ready to force a change of government.
“This is important in the current situation where parties not mandated by the people are seeking to intervene and change the rules and provisions in the Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates.
“These applications are necessary to prevent any legal motions that are an abuse of integrity laws and the Constitution.”

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/court-asked-to-clarify-vote/

City residents assured it will be business as usual

Posted on The National

NATIONAL Capital District Governor Powes Parkop has assured business houses, members of the diplomatic corp and the public that it will be “business as usual” this week.
Parkop’s assurance came as Parliament resumes this afternoon with the leadership of Government high on the agenda.
“This is a democratic nation and I think the people’s voices should be heard. Let’s just allow due processes to be followed,” Parkop said.
He urged the people not to pass early judgment on their MPs in either camp.
He also advised them to remain calm if there are any changes in the governance of the nation.
Parkop said police would be out at strategic locations and would be monitoring the main areas through the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras to monitor activities.
“Let us show that we are a progressive nation. We value democracy and I call upon all of us to uphold our Melanesian values of respect and honour for each other and for our leaders,” Parkop said.
More than 1000 police officers will be patrolling the streets of the capital city to ensure order is maintained.
Police are calling on MPs in both camps to be mindful of their actions to avoid provoking opportunists and supporters into engaging into illegal activities.
Most schools in Port Moresby will continue classes as normal today. Some schools have left it to the parents to decide whether to send their children to school.

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/city-residents-assured-it-will-be-business-as-usual/

Top 3 vie for post

By REBECCA KUKU - The National

THE 67 MPs in the Opposition are expected to today name a prime minister from the three leaders of the biggest parties in camp.
They continued their “lockdown” yesterday at the Laguna camp as they prepared for Parliament which resumes this afternoon, after being joined by four more MPs from the Government camp, including three Cabinet ministers.
Opposition Leader Patrick Pruaitch of the National Alliance (14 MPs), James Marape of Pangu (21 MPs), and William Duma of the United Resource Party (nine MPs) were in a closed-door meeting late yesterday to decide on who should be the nominee.
Hela Governor Philip Undialu speaking on their behalf said the three would decide among themselves who the nominee for prime minister should be.
“We have left that (leadership issue) with our three leaders Patrick Pruaitch, William Duma and James Marape to discuss,” he said.
“Later tonight (yesterday) or tomorrow (today) we will know who will be our nominee (for prime minister).”
Undialu said they were not bothered by “the desperate tactics” employed by the Government camp.
“The fact of the matter is no one is returning to Government. The train has left and late passengers have no choice.
“Either they form a good Opposition or join the queue as backbenchers.”
Undialu said the 67 MPs spent yesterday discussing alternative policies for the nation.
The four who joined yesterday were Kiriwina-Goodenough MP Douglas Tomuriesa, Talasea MP Francis Maneka, Moresby North-East MP John Kaupa and Jimi MP Wake Goi.
Abau MP Sir Puka Temu said an earlier plan to walk to Parliament today from their camp had been cancelled.
Meanwhile, Pruaitch had suggested earlier yesterday that the Opposition MPs conduct a secret ballot to select a coalition leader to replace Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.
“Among our group are several well-qualified, potential candidates for the position of prime minister,” he said.
“They have honed their professional and cultural leadership skills and have the capacity to heal recent divisions and forge a brighter future for our people.”
He said the 67 MPs should all have a chance to vote for who they felt was the best candidate to keep the coalition united.
“The best and most democratic way of choosing the new Prime Minister would be through a secret ballot where all Members of Parliament in this group can vote for who they believe should be the country’s new consensus leader,” he said.

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/top-3-vie-for-post/