Coffee farming viable

SOLOMON Islands could go into coffee farming because it could provide jobs and income for rural people. Prime Minister Dr Derek Sikua said highlanders in Solomon Islands are the ones who should be encouraged to go into coffee farming.

And visiting Papua New Guinea Prime Minister, Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare assured Dr Sikua that his country could offer both technical and practical training to landowners who will want to go into coffee farming.

He said coffee was one of his country’s major export commodities and many of the farmers were highland based.Sir Michael said the PNG coffee industry employed many villagers and it could be the same case for Solomon Islands.

Meanwhile, Dr Sikua said people in the highlands of Isabel and Guadalcanal provinces have been growing and roasting coffee for a number of years.The locally roasted coffee was sold mostly in the communities and in Honiara.