By UNRE Public Relations
Agricultural extension services are not fully reaching the people at the village level because extension officers are not willing to leave their comfortable office chairs.
This is the sentiment of Raphael Pilipo, owner of Bitapaka Integrated Farmer Training Centre.
Mr Pilipo expressed this to 74 third-year agriculture students of the University of Natural Resources & Environment, who visited his centre recently to learn more on animal nutrition, particularly feed formulation for pigs.
Mr Pilipo said communities are not living as effective communities or benefiting from basic government services like health, education and agriculture because the extension officers who are supposed to deliver those services and training were not willing to travel to those remote places.
He told the students that they have chosen a profession that is valuable and the knowledge and the skills they acquire at the University should reach the rural population and make an impact in the nation.
He challenged them to make use of the “200 bones and 5,000 muscles” they each have in their bodies to ensure that agricultural services are delivered.
“Don’t work for money. When you work for money you bring destruction,” he said.
Mr Pilipo spent 14 years working for RD Tuna in Madang as Agriculture Operational Manager but resigned to set up the training centre for farmers after seeing that his home province needed agricultural extension services.
The students, who were accompanied by their subject lecturer Gracia Moliola, technical officer Kathleen Diapong and poultry supervisor Archie Yamb, were taught a simple method of grating kaukau and kaukau tubers to produce feed for pigs.
Student representative Joel Pilon thanked Mr Pilipo for his time and willingness to assist them.