Jonglei State Ministry of Agriculture has received equipment and a training centre as a donation from the Korean peacekeeping contingent based at the UNMISS camp in Bor.

ROK HMEC (Horizontal Mechanical Engineering Company), the UN Korean contingent, established and trained local farmers at the Hanbit Agriculture Technology Research Center (HATRC).

According to the state government, the center is equipped with training facilities, farming materials and a practice farm of 2.56 hectares. The field will serve as a vegetable garden and will have an orchard with irrigation and drainage system.

State Agriculture Minister Mayen Ngor Atem said that the center which doubles as a training center in Bor is a “big light” in the history of Jonglei.

“So far we underscored achievements by training 34 state government officials on cooperative exchange programs over three batches in Korea. We have got donations of 9 walking Mini-tractors and grinding mills to cooperatives farmers by ROK HMEC,” Mayen said.

Mayen said that the main reason for establishing training centre is to change the mindset of the local population in the state which has fertile land, plenty of water and enough sunshine but still has food insecurity.

Meanwhile, Kim Byung Chun, the commander of ROM HMEC said the center is designed to boost economic activities of the South Sudanese population by making agriculture more profitable through technology.

He pointed out that Korean peacekeepers built the centre using containers. “As a reference, it is time for the Korean troops deployed overseas to construct such centers by using containers,” Byung said.

“By doing so, we have reduced cost dramatically and at the same time raised construction quality in a short time,” he added.