NAIS Partners

Who are the NAIS partners?

The seven current NAIS partner institutions are:

  • Cocoa Coconut Institute of Papua New Guinea (CCI)
  • Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC)
  • Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL)
  • National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI)
  • New Britain Palm Oil Ltd (NBPOL)
  • Papua New Guinea Oil Palm Research Association (OPRA)
  • Ramu Sugar Ltd (RSL).

Cocoa Coconut Institute of Papua New Guinea

The Cocoa Coconut Institute of Papua New Guinea (CCI) was formed in August 2003 out of the merger of the PNG Cocoa and Coconut Research Institute (CCRI) and PNG Cocoa and Coconut Extension Agency (CCEA). CCI is owned jointly by two statutory bodies, the Cocoa Board of Papua New Guinea and Kokonas Indastri Koperesen, and as such is responsible for all cocoa and coconut research and development in PNG. CCI has two active research stations, one at Tavilo (East New Britain Province) and the other, Stewart Research Station, in Madang Province; there is also a research station on Bougainville where operations are suspended temporarily. CCI owns eight plantations totalling 3,234 ha, two hybrid seed gardens, and carries out extension operations in all Lowland provinces of Papua New Guinea. CCI became a full NAIS partner in July 2005, and is busy developing its new library at its Tavilo Headquarters. More about CCI

Coffee Industry Corporation

The Coffee Marketing Board (later known as the Coffee Industry Board, CIB) was formed in 1964. In the 1980s, the PNG Coffee Research Institute (CRI) was established in Aiyura Valley, Eastern Highlands, and the Coffee Development Agency (CDA) was created in 1987 as an extension agency for coffee growers. An Act of Parliament in 1991 amalgamated CIB, CRI and CDA into the Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC). CIC is organised into two divisions to carry out its work: the Research and Grower Services Division (CIC-RGSD) based at the old CRI headquarters in Aiyura, and the Industry Operations Division (CC-IOD)  at CIC Headquarters in Goroka, Eastern Highlands. Both CIC divisions undertake an extensive scientific and technical publishing programme, including the PNG Coffee Journal founded in 1981, and CIC-RGSD has a well-organised, well-documented library at Aiyura that has been part of NAIS since 2001. A new library at CIC Headquarters in Goroka is currently being set up to serve CIC-IOD. More about CIC

National Agricultural Research Institute

Up until the 1980s, all agricultural research in Papua New Guinea was carried out by the then Department of Primary Industry. With the establishment of commodity-based research institutes (such as CRI, CCRI) left the Department responsible for a disparate range of research areas and locations. To resolve this, the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) was established by an Act of Parliament as a publicly-funded, statutory research organisation, for conducting applied and development-oriented research on food crops, emerging food and cash crops, livestock and resource management issues. The major targets are the smallholder, semi-subsistence, semi-commercial and commercial farmers and rural communities in the country. NARI manages six research stations in PNG, the oldest in the country at Keravat, established 1928 (East New Britain), and at Bubia and Labu (Morobe), Aiyura (Eastern Highlands), Laloki (Central Province) and Tambul (Western Highlands). Additionally, NARI owns the National Chemistry Laboratory and National Agricultural Insect Collection in Port Moresby, and has an office in Mt Hagen. NARI is has its operational headquarters at the Sir Alkan Tololo Research Centre, Bubia (Morobe), close to the city of Lae. NARI has library collections at all its research stations and other facilities. Under the ACNARS project, a library catalogue database system was introduced into NARI libraries in December 2000. The system was a prototype that, in 2005, became the national agricultural information system (NAIS). NARI continues to provide significant input into the system, and is responsible for co-ordinating its activities. More about NARI

New Britain Palm Oil Ltd

The New Britain Palm Oil Ltd (NBPOL), established in 1967, is the largest oil palm plantation/milling company in Papua New Guinea. NBPOL manages 29,900 ha of plantations in West New Britain, operates four mills, and in 2003 commissioned the only palm oil refinery in PNG. NBPOL has recently entered into a joint venture in Solomon Islands to rehabilitate that country’s oil palm operations on the island of Guadalcanal. The company’s Research Division, located at Dami Oil Palm Research Centre in West New Britain Province, is concerned primarily with oil palm seed production, plant breeding, and environmental issues related to plantation and mill management. Dami is the only oil palm breeding centre in Papua New Guinea and provides the industry with high yielding seeds. There is also a substantial library of documents related to oil palm research and development in PNG at Dami. With NBPOL joining NAIS as a full partner in April 2005, the catalogue of this collection is now included in the library catalogue database. More about NBPOL

Papua New Guinea Oil Palm Research Association

Oil palm is the most economically important cash crop in Papua New Guinea, surpassing even coffee. The Papua New Guinea Oil Palm Research Association (OPRA) is an association of all six oil palm companies (incl. NBPOL and RSL) and the 18,000 farmers who grow oil palm on 1 to 6 ha blocks in PNG, totalling 49,000 ha. The farmers are represented by the Oil Palm Industry Corporation (OPIC). OPRA’s mission is to fulfil the research needs of the industry, and solve the technical problems of member organisations. It does this with three research centres, at Dami (West New Britain), Higaturu (Oro) and Alotau (Milne Bay), and four sub-stations located in New Ireland, Oro and West New Britain. OPRA will become a full NAIS partner in late 2005. More about OPRA

Ramu Sugar Ltd

Situated in the beautiful Ramu Valley on the border between the provinces of Madang and Morobe, Ramu Sugar Ltd (RSL) is a registered private enterprise, the only Papua New Guinea company specialising in sugarcane production. Sugar cane is grown on 8,500 ha, crushing over half a million tonnes in 2002. RSL meets all of Papua New Guinea’s sugar demand; the remainder is exported. In addition to sugar, RSL has 16,000 head of cattle, 4,500 ha of oil palm and 2–3,000 ha of peanuts (the latter two are new enterprises for the company as it diversifies). The Agronomy Division at RSL is responsible among other things for undertaking research to maintain the company’s operations and profitability, which includes investigating new crops and other enterprises. RSL became a full NAIS partner in April 2005, and is busy reorganising and documenting its existing library collection.

Last updated May 2006.