The organic garden demonstrated vegetable production on a small scale to and encourages the incorporation of a variety of vegetables in people’s daily diet.
Students were informed about low-cost, high yield gardening techniques, as well as the invaluable health and food security benefits provided by a family garden.
In her opening remarks, the wife of U.S. Ambassador Peter Prahar, Amy Kit-Ling Choi Prahar, encouraged students to employ the gardening techniques they would learn at home, highlighting the various health and cost-saving benefits for their families.
USDA-NRCS Conservation Specialist Paul Lake then educated students on the materials needed for gardening, focusing on those that could be procured locally and free of charge.
Students were then able to partake in various hands-on activities, including constructing a raised bed out of local bamboo, mixing the correct ratio of soil to compost, and planting and mulching seedlings to promote effective growth.
The vegetable varieties planted during the event include tomato, cucumber, Chinese cabbage, bell pepper, green onion, and eggplant.
Most of the varieties were originally sprouted at the Pohnpei Soil and Water Conservation District Greenhouse, and all seeds were purchased at the Pohnpei Agriculture Office.
In addition to Friday’s event, USDA-NRCS participated in the development of small demonstration gardens at schools throughout Pohnpei.
In 2006, USDA-NRCS collaborated with FSM Economic Affairs, Pohnpei State Agriculture and the Island Food Community of Pohnpei in an initiative titled “Training in Appropriate Farming Techniques.”
Two separate trainings were conducted for Nahnpei Memorial School Parent and Teacher Association in Kitti and Mand Village in Madolenihmw, and demonstrated and promoted culturally acceptable production of vegetables for home consumption and local sale, provided technical assistance and provided knowledge to the community through public workshops.
The goals of both initiatives aligned with the FSM Strategic Development Plan Goal for the Agriculture Sector: to increase production of local produce for food security, health and to encourage import substitution, increase production of traditional farming systems for home nutritional and traditional needs and cash incomes, increased volumes of saleable surpluses to be marketed by the private sector into local and regional markets, and to promote environmentally sound and sustainable production.
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