TRUKAI INDUSTRIES LAUNCHES ITS SMART FARMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

 
Twenty-four model smart farmers will undergo an internship program in 2025 under Trukai Industries’ Smart Farmer Program. 

The Smart Farmer Internship Program was launched on Tuesday 5 November at the Pacific Adventist University following the graduation of 109 participants of the Smart Farmer Program. The internship program aims at training the participants to grow rice at a commercial scale in which they will be employed by Trukai Industries and accommodated at their farm in Erap, Morobe Province.  

Trukai officers have already assessed and identified the model farmers who were chosen under these categories: 

1. Have attended Trukai’s Smart Farmer Program and completed two weeks on campus
training and 18 weeks knowledge transfer at their own locality.  
2. Have graduated with a Certificate in Irrigated Rice Farming from either the PNG University
of Technology in Lae or the Pacific Adventist University in Port Moresby. 
3. Have demonstrated that they are self-starters and have taken ownership of their farming by continuing to grow rice to one hectare or more and have organised and led their community in this venture with the seeds they have harvested. 

Trukai Industries’ Agriculture Manager Aina Davis explained the three months internship program as an exposure and hands on training for commercial farming equipment and rice production.  “In order to pass the program, the interns will work with our Commercial Farming team and will learn about land preparation, planting, in crop management, harvest, post harvest, farm upkeep, seed production, workshop functions, basic repair and maintenance on farm machineries and equipment, commercial irrigation and farm productivity,” said Davis. 

“From this internship program we aim to inspire the farmers to invest in rice farming, become commercial rice farmers and impact their cash flow and overall life,” she added.   CEO of Trukai Industries, Alan Preston explained that this next phase of the Smart Farmer Program would provide a holistic approach to the overall objective of the program.  “Trukai’s Smart Farmer Internship Program completes the overall intent of the Smart Farmer  Program, which is to train local farmers and have them transition from subsistence rice farmers to semi commercial and commercial farmers,” said Preston.  

“Our Agriculture team have done tremendous work on developing the Smart Farmer Program and now this internship program. This is the next step in ensuring that Papua New Guineans learn how to grow rice as a staple crop as it has already become a staple food in PNG. It is through this program that we will contribute towards food security and the agriculture sector in PNG,” said Preston.  

The Smart Farmer Internship Program will be undertaken at Trukai Industries’ farm at Erap, Morobe Province, where a quarterly intake of six model farmers will undergo this three months program.