By Emmanuel T. Erediano
Variety News Staff

TWO new technologies that promise better and more abundant produce will be introduced this year to local farmers, according to agriculture consultant Isidoro Cabrera — “green house” and tissue culture.
The green house project was brought here by a group of farmers from Hong Song City, South Korea who have implemented it at Kagman’s commercial farm lots.
The green house, a pilot project privately funded by the Koreans, is a 130 feet plot of vegetables housed in a green net.
The Korean farmers, Cabrera said, are sharing a technology that can be used for a wide variety of vegetables, particularly tomatoes, cucumber, cabbage, and pechay.
Cabrera said one green house has already been completed and the Korean group, with the assistance from the Division Agriculture, is putting up three more.
The project, he said, is the first step in securing agricultural development assistance from the Korean city after Gov. Benigno R. Fitial signed a sister-city agreement during his visit there last year.
Cabrera said the CNMI will send farmers to South Korea for further training.
In return, family members of Korean farmers will given the opportunity to study English on Saipan.
The second project, the tissue culture, is being practiced in other countries like the Philippines.
The project was discussed during the farmer’s meeting at Kagman Community Center last week.
The technology involves taking tissue from a particular plant for mass propagation, Cabrera said.
He said Northern Marianas College’s Cooperative Research, Extension and Education Service. plans to use this technology with banana and pineapple plants.
A grant of $140,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture is available for the project, he added.