The estates which have labour and produce many tree crops for export, small holders who grow cash crops mainly for exports and subsistence farmers who grow staple root crops, fruits and vegetables for their own consumption or for sale on a small scale in their immediate vicinity. There is considerable overlap between the subsistence sector and the smallholders producing cash crops and there are few people who limit themselves exclusively to one or the other. For instance, commodity price changes will often determine activity. 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 smallholdings and only in certain areas of the highlands. The principal crops for domestic consumption are sweet potatoes, banana, taro, yam, sugar cane, maize and ground nuts. There is considerable scope for increases in production of both export crops and crops for local consumption.