Multiple Citrus One Root Stock
On a plot the size of two rugby field is the bustle of activities of farmhands working with assorted plants and animals making their mark in achieving most probably a first in Goroka and possibly the country of cultivating five various citrus plants on one root stock. Stories being told by the farm manager himself, the hardworking Mr. Heriso Giakave.
Giakave has a small plot of 30cm high citrus root stock with new budding and five to six full grown leaves showing the success of two to five different varieties of citrus being grown on the one root stock. You see this on YouTube and other social media but to see something promising as this live is totally awesome!
The plan according to Gaikave is to raise an awareness that this is home grown and can become commercialized.
“I have a small plot but for those interested with a bigger plot of land this is already money in the pocket for them, depending on the trial we run here and its success” , he said.
He said that the current trial will produce lemon, mandarin, navel, clementine and satsuma oranges. He said this will be the money maker for farmers in the future. The farm is set-up as a model for teaching and learning. Since taking up that post from his usual classroom setting to being out on the farm daily (five years now), he has an apiculture (bees); aquaculture (fish farming); animal husbandry and poultry setup.
There are various potato species of which one seed can produce up to 20 tubers a mound; asparagus seed packaging/cultivation; rice and mushroom production.
By sheer tenacity and hard work, he got a Chinese contractor (currently building the UOG Central Admin Building) to build a model learning space for his students on the farm. The building has four classrooms and two office space that can be partitioned into four separate cubicles.
Beside the classroom is the mushroom space. It is a space of lean grass growing in tight clusters forming a shady enclosure to house the 1000 tubers coming from Zunkao (suppliers). Mushroom technology will be taught there.
The fish arm has four ponds. The nursery, breeding, de-sexing (separate male and female) and the grower’s pond. Due to increase in fish population eight new ponds have been recently constructed and are now in use.
“The construction of the ponds has coincided with the student’s research in density and feed trail, just like other topics relevant to what we have here”, he said.
Another success story is the asparagus story.
“Asparagus has 19 mineral antioxidants. It is a plant with high nutritional health values. Seeing that we are now packaging seeds and selling them. A lot of interest has been shown by the provincial government and agriculture agencies. PNG should seriously look to exporting asparagus”.
We are practicing organic farming here. We use fertilizers but not to that extreme. We are using babazone which creates balance to the farm ecosystem. Fertilizers are harmful to soil organisms so we shovel dirt from Chuave market and haul to the farm as well as other sites.
The farm has a proper water system for irrigation, washing pigs, filling ponds, chicken and general use.
Students taking agriculture do Introduction to Agriculture program for the first year then by the second year they do Introduction to Crop Production.
Gaikave said by then they do hands on practical and by the third year they are ready to do project submission of their choice in either crop or horticulture in which they will complete together with their quantitative research for assessment in their final year. “We have continuous research so students go out well prepared”, he said.
For example, with their village chicken they are doing the chingkau feed methodology where chicken stock feed mixed with fermented lean grass is used to feed them. You have to taste the chicken, fish or food here to experience for yourself if what we have here are winners so you can be a grinner”, he laughed.
His only setback for more success stories is the limited funding to make some of his innovation and breakthrough for not only the province but the country’s benefit.
