Papua New Guinea

Country News and Stories

PNG and Pacific Nuis
Get the latest on ACIAR-supported initiatives in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific in the recent issue of PNG and Pacific Nuis produced by ACIAR’s PNG Country office.

Weed succumbs to biocontrol in PNG, shows long term study
Smallholder farmers in Papua New Guinea continue to benefit from the introduction of a biocontrol agent of one of the world’s worst weeds through a project funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

Floristry workshops for Indigenous women
Indigenous women were introduced to floristry at workshops in Darwin and surrounding areas in May- June 2011 as part of an ACIAR project that is using floriculture to improve livelihoods in indigenous Australian and Pacific island communities.

ACIAR's forestry research in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea is one of the most important countries within the ACIAR forestry program with the current projects accounting for about twenty percent of the program.

PhD graduate gives PNG smallholders a sweeter outlook
Sweet-potato farmers in Papua New Guinea will be pleased to learn of the recent graduation of Dr Norah Omot, who received a PhD from the University of Canberra last month.

Cocoa research vital for PNG
Further research is one of the four main recommendations of the latest ACIAR technical report on the nutritional status of cocoa in Papua New Guinea.

International Year of Forests
To raise awareness of the importance of forests and to strengthen efforts for their sustainable development, the United Nations has declared 2011 the International Year of Forests. Together with Governments, organisations and major forest stakeholder groups around the world, the United Nations is promoting four Global Objectives for the improved management, conservation and sustainable development of the world’s forests.

PNG farmer training to boost yields
PNG farmers are gaining a better awareness of more sustainable ways of growing sweetpotato, and the importance of starting with clean planting materials to produce good yields.

Solomon Islands project featured on ABC Landline
An ACIAR project promoting the growing and eating of sweetpotato in the Solomon Islands was featured on ABC television's Landline program.

Australia helps to revive PNG pyrethrum crop
A unique collaboration between Tasmania and Papua New Guinea is helping revitalise PNG’s pyrethrum industry, a much-needed cash crop for smallholder farmers, many of them women. Pyrethrum is a natural insecticide extracted from the pyrethrum daisy plant. It grows well in the cool climate of Tasmania but also in the fertile, temperate PNG highlands. While Tasmania grows 80% of the world pyrethrum crop, it was once a thriving industry in PNG, with around 80,000 growers in the 1980’s. But the industry ground to a halt in the 1990s and the Mt Hagen factory closed.

Low cost storage and transport of bananas in PNG
Past ACIAR research on the transport and storage of fresh fruit and vegetables in Papua New Guinea identified the viability of moving fresh produce from the Papua New Guinea highlands to the main domestic markets in Port Moresby.

Boosting health with coloured fruits and vegetables
The benefit of eating coloured fruits and vegetables that are rich in beta-carotene is being promoted through an ACIAR project to improve people’s health in Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.

Improving women's business acumen in Papua New Guinea
International Women’s Day 2010 (8 March 2010) has the theme of equal rights, equal opportunities: progress for all. ACIAR works with women across the Asia-Pacific region, and an example of this is a project in Papua New Guinea helping to improve the business acumen of women involved in the horticultural industry.

Pacific urged to develop niche markets
A new economic report has warned that the 14 Pacific Island nations and East Timor need to develop niche markets for quality agricultural products to help build economic resilience.

Sharing farm science across the seas
From the jungles of Papua New Guinea to the highlands of Tibet, Australian researchers are working with farmers to save them money and time, and to improve their health and the natural environment surrounding their farms.

Finding potential in PNG’s logged forests
Papua New Guinea forest scientist Cossey Yosi is taking part in an ACIAR research project that is identifying ways for PNG communities to sustainably manage the forests that have already been logged by commercial operators.

Papua New Guinea newsletters
Newsletters from the ACIAR Papua New Guinea office.

Outcomes from 2009-10 impact assessments
Outcomes from the latest impact assessments.