Estimates of food crop production in Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Estimates of the quantity of food produced in Papua New Guinea (PNG) are important for planning and research. Information contained in the Mapping Agricultural Systems of PNG database of the proportion of land devoted to various food crops allows new estimates to be made. To calculate annual production for each staple crop, estimates of the proportion of garden area devoted to each crop for each agricultural system were combined with census data on the rural population in 2000 (4.3 million rural villagers), mean garden area planted per person per year and mean crop yield for that environment. These data allow estimates to be made for banana, cassava, coconut, potato, Queensland arrowroot, rice, sago, sweet potato, and various taro and yam species. Total annual staple crop production is estimated as 4.5 million tonnes (1050 kg/person/year), with an energy value of 4.3 × 1012 kilocalories (2770 kcal/person/day). It would require an additional 1.2 million tonnes per year of imported rice to replace the energy value of these staple foods, with a retail value of K2850 million.