ORANGES IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA HIGHLANDS

It is great to read that there is an orange industry building up in the highlands.  Oranges are important for the health of the nation. We read the view expressed that people do not realize that the cold climate is excellent for growing citrus fruit.

A recent report stated that one man had planted 3000 orange trees on his land in the fertile Wahgi Valley. Let us hope that the oranges are of good quality. It would be worthwhile to import seedlings from overseas.

The population of Papua New Guinea should provide a ready market for oranges. But we have to recall the difficulties of the Australian orange industry about 20 years ago.

The farmers ended up destroying massive amounts of oranges and orange trees because of the competition from the overseas market especially South America. If Papua New Guinea is to have an overseas market, the oranges have to be of top quality.

We must not forget that other fruit grow well in the cold climate. The apple grows from seeds. There are stone fruit such as peaches, apricots and plums. The health of this nation would certainly improve with citizens having a regular diet of fruit.

At present, oranges and mandarins are bought in the supermarket for up to K15 for a plate of 4. But then these are better quality than those sold in the markets. But the market oranges are sweet. Perhaps the LNG and Ramu NiCo projects will buy large quantities of oranges.