PNG Agriculture Mininister to launch Trukai's State-of-the-art Hulling Mill

Rice Hulling Mill. Photo by Trukai Industries/supplied 

Minister for Agriculture and Livestock and Member for Unaggi- Bena Hon Benny Allen will be guest of honour when he inaugurates Trukai Industries’ new hulling mill at its main operations base in Mataram Street, Lae this Monday (25th September).

The state-of-the-art facility is the first of its kind in PNG and has a maximum production capacity of 240 ton per week. It becomes the vital final component that establishes a 100% fully integrated process for domestic rice production in PNG.

The large scale vertical integration process the mill enables means that for the first time, there will be an end-to-end solution for domestic production of rice in Papua New Guinea.

Trukai is the only rice company with the capability to process locally gown rice, and this mill completes the value chain that involves seed and site research, planting, growing, harvesting, milling, packing and distributing domestically grown rice.

Hon Mr Allen will be joined by other government representatives and a representative from Chingwam Rice Growers Cooperative for the ceremony. Other dignitaries to attend the inauguration will include Trukai Chairman Mr Mark Robertson.

Following opening addresses Hon.Mr Allen will have the honour of cutting the ceremonial ribbon to open the mill. Trukai Industries will then switch on the mill and the rice used in its initial run will be 130 tons of rice grown in its trial crop at Chingwam. The crop was harvested in April/May this year with the cooperation of the Chingwam Rice Growers Cooperative.

The rice hulling mill was purchased from Vietnam and is the first of its kind for PNG. Trukai Industries is proud to be taking the lead with its introduction.

Trukai has invested heavily in the development of a domestic rice industry to date, with the mill representing a further expenditure of over K620, 000.

It will provide the capability to process locally grown rice initially grown in the Markham Valley, as part of Trukai Industries’ Markham Valley Rice Corridor Plan. The plan incorporates rain fed and irrigated rice from National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), its primary site at Chingwam where its rice development team will be planting 325 hectares in November/December this year. Media Release