Sepik Organic Commercial Farming Project

Sepik Organic Produce Market is a subsidiary business of Gala Enterprises Ltd which owns state land. It is an Agriculture Lease of 5.33 hectares at Allotment: 185, Section Muschu, Fourmile, Wewak, East Sepik Province. There is no commercial farming activity currently at the location. They plan to utilize this state land for commercial farming of rice, vanilla, fruits, and vegetables. They are seeking a partnership with an investor to set up commercial farming mechanisms for the plantations/farms as well as in the medium term, processing facilities for the packaging of rice and processing of finished products. Vanilla varieties in East Sepik Province are good quality and make up most of PNG's exports overseas. Exports are usually of vanilla beans hence the project would focus on downstream processing which is a major policy focus of the government as well. Rice is the staple food in PNG and the market demand is relatively high. However, given that most rice in PNG is imported, the effect of pricing is an issue. Hence, processing rice locally to achieve economies of scale in production would also be the focus of this project. The production of fruits and vegetables as well as processed products will supply the immediate needs in the market locally and ultimately the province and the other parts of the country in the long term.

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