Commercial guava farming is unpopular in PNG nowadays with a handful of households and didiman (agriculture) centres being in an appalling state with a few old trees or rundown blocks.
However at Munum village outside Lae, Edith Babum finds this horticultural crop economic with a modest farm her family runs for self sustenance.
Babul owns a patch of 6000 Indian guava trees to serve her niche market which she does well with the help of her family members.
This white guava performs vigorously with quality produce all year round. She says unlike other tree crops, her main challenges are fruit fly damage and mulching. But her team has been to handle those problems, using simple management techniques.
She supplies supermarkets in Lae on a scheduled weekly basis at a competitive price for Morobe consumers. She also sells the guava fruits at the Lae main market and takes them to shows and public events in the city, selling them from K1 to K6 per guava depending on fruit sizes.
Pictured is Babul displaying and selling her Indian guava at a public event in Lae recently.
She is also a farmer of a range of tropical fruits, root crops, tree crops, vegetables and livestock.
Hers has been a success story as income generated from guava has enabled her to build a semi-permanent house, buy a mini-bus, take care of all educational and medical requirements and support her family with other social and welfare needs for close to a decade.