EL NINO WIPED OUT BETELNUT IN AITAPE WEST; PRICE SKYROCKETS FROM 10t to K2

By BENBERT WASA

Betel nut palms in the Aitape West lowlands and coastlines are dying out due to the prolonged El Niño phenomenon.

Photos and video taken in the affected area, and supplied to this newsroom, show the extent of the damage.

Once green betel nut groves now standing dry and brown. Coconut palms in the same groves are also brown and stressed from the heat.

For the people of the Aitape West coast, betel nut is not just a chew — it is also their daily cash crop like vegetables, fish and sago. It pays for school fees, store goods, fuel and food.

That income is now gone.

‘The once daily cash crop for our people will take years to grow again,” a local farmer said”.

The coastal area will have to replant, but farmers say it will take years for the new crop to mature and produce as the shortage is already hitting the markets hard.

The demand for betel nut and mustard (daka) is now rising, with prices skyrocketing.

Betel nut that used to sell for 10 toea, 20 toea and 50 toea is now selling for K1 and K2.

Apart from the betel nut cash crop, food gardens are also being destroyed by bushfire and the heat from the sun. Crops are drying out before harvest, leaving families with less food and less income at the same time.

Community members are now calling on the Department of Agriculture and Livestock to visit the affected areas.

They are asking DAL officers to come and assess the damage, and to educate people on how to better raise cash crops and livestock during these dry times — including replanting, water management, and protecting gardens from bushfire.

Until help arrives, coastal families in Aitape West face a long, difficult recovery.