China grants 1.211 million USD for the First Phase of the Mt. Hagen Rice Project in PNG (Linked to Record ID#39378, #39383, #63990, and #69380)

On December 3 2009, China's Ministry of Commerce granted 1,211,000 USD (K4 million) for the First Phase of the Mt. Hagen Rice Project in Papua New Guinea.

The project will provide technical advice and teach modern farming techniques for dry rice to local rice farmers at the Hagen Agricultural College in the Western Highlands Province. The project hopes to diversify local food crop production. The project has developed 4 hectares of land, producing 12.4 tones of rice.

The implementing organization for this project was Hubei Provincial Department of Agriculture. Farming equipment including a tractor, rice threshers, milling machines and huller were provided. A team of 6 specialists, led by Guan Shihuai, trained local farmers on how to grow rice and vegetables in June 2011.

The project began in December 2009 will be conducted in Five Phases with a total grant amount of K22 million from the Chinese Government (Phase 1 (this project), Phase 2 #39378, Phase 3 #39383, Phase 4 #63990). This project falls under an umbrella for the entire project, captured in #69380.