The major export cash crops, coffee, cocoa and copra are grown by all types of producers throughout the country where soil and climate conditions are suitable. Oil palm, tea, rubber and pyrethrum are other important export crops. Tea is grown almost entirely in the highlands on both estates and smallholdings. Rubber is grown mainly in large holdings in the Southern coastal region, though it is grown in limited quantities elsewhere. Oil palm is grown in West New Britain and Oro Provinces on both largeholdings and smallholdings.
Pyrethrum is grown in small holdings and only in certain areas of the highlands.
The principal crops for domestic consumption are sweet potatoes, banana, tarp yam, sugar cane, maize and ground nuts. There is considerable scope for increases in production of both export crops and crops for local consumption. Imports of fresh fruits and vegetables could be significantly substituted by domestic production with appropriate government policies. Food and live animals represent a total of 16.9 percent of the value of imports in 1992. Processing of agriculture output is very limited with only an estimated 8 percent going into local processing and manufacture.