PH, Papua New Guinea Sign Agreement on Agriculture Cooperation
PORT MORESBY 17 January 2019 —Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Pinol and Papua New Guinea Agriculture and Livestock Minister Benny Allan signed the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on Agriculture Cooperation between the Philippines and Papua New Guinea on 16 November 2018, during a formal ceremony at the 25-hectare Philippine-Papua New Guinea Rice Demo Farm, at the Pacific Adventist University (PAU) in Port Moresby.
Ambassador to Papua New Guinea Bienvenido Tejano, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, Presidential Spokesperson, Salvador Panelo, Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez and Congressman Toby Tiangco were present during the ceremony.
The signed MOA for Agriculture Cooperation formalizes the two countries’ cooperation on rice production research and development, and in rice and rice-based farming systems technology.
Resulting from the meeting of President Rodrigo Duterte and Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’ Neill on the sides of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Meeting in November 2017, the Department of Agriculture made successive visits to Port Moresby to materialize the planting of rice in Papua New Guinea.
Secretary Piñol personally met with Prime Minister O’Neill to discuss the proposed partnership on rice production. The Prime Minister agreed without reservation that they will partner with the Philippines to produce more rice in Papua New Guinea, upon the signing of a bilateral agreement—as the Philippine-Papua New Guinea cooperation on rice production would be both historic in as much as the mass production of rice can now be established in his country, and alternative sources of affordable rice will be available for the growing Philippine population in the future.
Papua New Guinea imports around 98 percent of the nearly 400,000 metric tons of rice the country consumes each year; yet, it is said that only 50,000 hectares of its two million hectares of suitable agricultural lands is required to meet its rice needs. The Government is now focusing policies towards rice sufficiency and the overall strengthening of its agricultural sector for food security.
The Philippines joins the European Union, Australia and Israel in supporting Papua New Guinea’s agricultural policy with assistance targeted at training and production of specific crops such as rice, cacao and high-value vegetables.
The Philippine-Papua New Guinea Rice Demo Farm hopes to establish a model seed farm and become a source of certified rice seeds for both commercial and smallholder farmers embarking on rice production.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and the DA, through the Philippine Embassy in Port Moresby, enabled the sending of 19 Filipino farm technicians and tax-free supplies and equipment to Papua New Guinea for the clearing, ploughing, irrigation and planting of the initial rice seeds of the demo farm.
The Philippine-Papua New Guinea Rice Demo Farm’s research of appropriate rice varieties for Papua New Guinea and the training of local farmers will pave the way for larger scale projects and investments. Thus, the demo farm itself was also readied as a showcase during the APEC Leaders Meeting in Port Moresby in November 2018, when high officials and CEOs of APEC member countries are in the city to participate in the APEC activities. END
For more information, visit www.portmoresbype.dfa.gov.ph.
