In Madang, Papua New Guinea, RD Tuna Company is also venturing into rice farming at the 860-hectare Vidar Plantation. The company has started clearing the bush over an initial six hectares out of 100 hectares that is to be planted with rice under its '48 Rice Plantation Project'.
"The work started two weeks ago by cutting coconut tress, clearing bush, and preparing the area for irrigation. We are preparing the ground and the dykes and this work should finish in five weeks time," a spokesman for RD Tuna said, adding that Madang province was blessed with land highly suited to rice projects. He said the plantation was well located near rivers that made it easier to provide good irrigation.
If successful, rice farming can prove to be quite a lucrative business activity. Until now most of the rice consumed in Papua New Guinea is imported from overseas. This import activity is limited to a few companies, which hold special import licenses. Consumer prices in PNG for rice are much higher than other countries in the region, such as Indonesia and Philippines. Only recently the PNG government started issuing permits to start rice projects.
RD Tuna Ventures, which is part of the Philippine RD Group of companies, wants to pioneer this project in Madang as a catalyst for the "untouched opportunities" for communities living in the area. "God willing, the produce will be supplied to our own people and eventually, as the project increases its production, we will consider supplying Madang commercially," RD Tuna said.
At a later stage the company will consider selling rice to other provinces and eventually look at exports that could assist the country reduce its annual rice import bill, which is estimated at K260-K300 million according to the latest official brief from the Department of Agriculture and Livestock.
Eddie Tejano, a rice specialist at the Pacific Adventist University, is providing expert advise on the rice project. He said the plan was for irrigated rice production covering 100 hectares, although initially six hectares was being prepared for planting in April and May. "We are expected to harvest 111 days from planting because we will be using early maturing variety IR64 coming from International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Philippines."
RD Tuna Company in Madang has undertaken a major expansion. It is upgrading its existing 600 metric ton cold storage to 2,000 metric ton capacity at Vidar Wharf, North Coast of Madang Province. This expected additional capacity that cost US$1.4 million makes this Cold Storage the biggest in the South Pacific.
Also a new 200 metric ton per day capacity tuna canning plant is expected to start its construction in the third quarter of this year. The current RD tuna plant is built several miles from the seaside. The new factory is planned to be built close to the new cold storage and RD wharf Madang.