Yangoru-Saussia District of East Sepik Province continues to be the leading cocoa producing district in Papua New Guinea.
The district produced over 9, 000 metric tons of cocoa last year, 2022, which amounts to 20 percent of PNG’s cocoa produced in one district.
Member for Yangoru-Saussia and Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru thanked his people for their efforts and hard work in becoming the biggest cocoa producing district in the country. Minister Maru assured his people that Yangoru-Saussia district will invest more in cocoa this year.
“Apart from investment in helping to build more nurseries in the district to produce cocoa seedlings because of the high demand to produce cocoa seedlings, we will be embarking on a new program to improve production of yields per hectare for individual farmers working through the Cocoa Co-operative Society network in our district. We really want to focus on increasing the yield per hectare,” said Minister Maru.
“In addition to that we want to look at bringing two new crops into the same block of land. We want to look at introducing coconut and kava so people can maximize production from the same block of land. With the growing population, land is becoming scarce. Integrated farming is the way forward for the district,” said Minister Maru.
He stated that the district is also looking at building a new 35kilometre road from Hawain to Yangoru to open up vast cocoa producing land that has not been unlocked because of no road access through the dense primary rainforest.
Minister Maru said the district is also working on a project to process cocoa into cocoa by-products like cocoa powder and cocoa liquor.
“This is a project that we would like to start this year. Land is being surveyed and the feasibility studies are going to be done in a 10-hectare block of land at Baimuru village in East Yangoru.
We cannot continue to receive between K1.50 and K2. 00 per kilo. It cannot go on forever. By processing cocoa and increasing the prices our people will be encouraged to work their land and increase production and export. This can further support our country’s economic growth agenda,” added Minister Maru.