Is anyone listening? This research can really help PNG

KEITH JACKSON

MICHAEL DOM IS NOT JUST an award winning writer. In fact one of Papua New Guinea’s leading poets’ day job is as a research scientist.

At present doing postgraduate studies at the University of Adelaide, Michael is normally based at Labu Station, a National Agricultural Research Institute operation in Morobe Province.

Earlier this year, he and colleague Janet Pandi, from NARI’s high altitude highlands research centre at Tambul Station in the Western Highlands, presented a paper at a science and technology conference in Port Moresby.

“My session drew a crowd of six and a half people,” says Michael. “One person left half-way through my 15-minute talk to attend the more loud and argumentative session next door about funding for electrical engineers.

“But my audience discussed what I had presented in some depth, with much questioning and great feeling. It was all right.”

Well I’m hoping PNG Attitude can offer Michael a slightly bigger crowd.

The paper, which is available for download at the end of this article, argues that two innovations in animal feed technology have the potential to revolutionise PNG’s smallholder and subsistence agricultural system.

They have the capacity to enhance farm incomes, enabling farmers to respond in a resilient manner to economic and environmental change.

As I understand it, Michael and Janet’s research project sought to enhance feeding systems for pigs and poultry through better storage and also improved feed formulations to combine sweet potato and cassava with protein concentrate.

The outcome showed significant cost-benefit gains for farmers through greater animal performance in providing the stuff animals provide.

The importance of this to PNG cannot be underestimated. The country has more than 600,000 small-scale pig and poultry farmers. And as many as six million Papua New Guineans rely on rural farming for their livelihood.

“It is unrealistic to assume that the traditional Melanesian safety net of village life and subsistence agriculture will continue to provide sufficiently for both the household income and food security needs,” the paper says.

The authors advocate that PNG must more actively develop smallholder agriculture and livestock by taking advantage of research such as they have been doing.

After all, they infer, there is no point in research advising how to get better outcomes if it is not taken seriously by public policy makers.

“It is our firm belief that with the appropriate support and incentive, smallholder agriculture can become a vehicle for moving PNG towards achieving real development impacts, through science and technological innovations,” Michael and Janet say.

You can access Michael and Janet's full paper here - Download Harnessing science and technology for development

Comments

[Maureen Wari]

Tenk yu stret. Narapla askim em, igat sampla amount lo gmo lo diet (table 2) or feed sources (table 3) yupla givim ol pik na kakaruk ya?

This is directed to you because of your paper posted here and because I think I'll get an instant response than going to the website posted.

[Michael Dom]

Hi Maureen - I can't give you a kina per kg price for the NARI poultry concentrate right now - retail prices are determined by many other factors and the work we do simplifies the estimates at farm level.

But we estimate that all other things considered the cost of broiler feed alone is reduced by about 30% in real terms.

We're going one step better than producing the broiler concentrate for counter sales.

We're developing local mini-mills at community level so that farmers can basically buy the concentrate in or near their own village. This is work in progress.

Thanks for your enquiry.

If anyone is interested in the NARI broiler concentrate or information regarding livestock technologies please go to: www.nari.org.pg | email: narils@nari.org.pg | Ph: (675) 475 1066 | NARI Livestock Research Programme, Labu Station, PO Box 1639 Lae Morobe PNG.

[Maureen Wari]

This is appropriate technology: the enhanced feeding systems for pigs and poultry and improved feed formulations for our village settings. Is your research on-going or have you concluded?

If the newly-formulated pig feed comes out to retail, how much would a 20kg bag cost compared to Flame's current 20kg bag at ~PGK 23.00?

Tony - If you are not in a position to provide answers here, don't sweat. I'll find time to read your paper to have some idea.

[Michael Dom]

Thanks for your support Jeffrey. But I must say that this pig & poultry R&D output is more than interesting, it is fundamental to improving rural farming in PNG.

While every proud Pngian would readily advocate that 'agriculture is our backbone' for the most part we seem lost about what that really means and how we can take practical steps to strengthen this sector.

Sure we have Vision 2050. Sure we have a new agriculture development plan being prepared. But what activities, what actions are we going to take to make these plans a reality?

Development projects; this is the point where government sponsored con artists step in and fuck things up for us, when we think that having a plan is good enough. For example the NADP.

The two projects mentioned in my article and other livestock activities could have gone nationwide by now if a K2million proposal that we had submitted had been favoured. (The type of activities being proposed were not in line with international donor objectives).

Three factors are often absent in our Pngian operating method: imagination, cooperation and perseverance.

Some people are making a career out of 'making plans and running projects', which seem to lead us nowhere. While the sector allows for career development I don't think that 'lifetime achievement' thinking is the right way for this particular public service.

Our rural farmers need assisstance yesterday.

I'm hoping people have queries to raise and that the article Keith shared provides some material towards further constructive discussion and critical and creative thinking and writing.

DISCLAIMER: The above statements are my own and do not represent those of my employer the Papua New Guinea National Agriculture Research Institute.

[Jeff Febi]

Interesting research. PNG should begin to embrace home grown ideas from our very own people.

Vision2050 is a classic example of homegrown innovation, I would presume.