Ramon B. Camacho, Saipan Sabalu Market Associations Inc. president, said they want to revive the “only industry” over which local residents have the most control.
“Not only would agriculture development flourish to a new level, but it would also spawn small business incubation, jobs, become a tourist attraction, provide access to fresh and nutritious food for residents and visitors,” he said in his letter to Igisomar.
Camacho said they hope to create new entrepreneurial opportunities and build a sense of community ownership and participation in a secure, safe and healthy environment.
On Aug. 18, representatives of the Saipan Sabalu Farmers Markets Association met with Igisomar.
Igisomar asked the farmers group to provide him a prioritized list of technical assistance that could be funded by the U.S. Office of Insular Affairs.
Camacho noted that OIA recently provided the CNMI with $2.2 million in technical assistance grants, of which $1.2 million was allotted as seed money for geothermal energy exploration and $1 million for economic growth and development.
He told Isigomar they have convened the farmers group to come up with priorities and programs, which include equipment, irrigation system and central marketing facility.
Camacho said the lack of equipment poses extreme hardship to local farmers.
The modern but efficient low-cost irrigation system is the lifeblood of all farm plots, he added.
The central marketing facility is necessary to streamline the local markets and integrate agriculture with the local tourism sector, he said.
Camacho said the $200,000 appropriation available from the U.S. Congress is not enough to construct the proposed Garapan public market facility.
An additional $250,000 is needed, he added.
He said their group’s mid-term priorities are spare parts for farm equipment and accessories as well as non-disaster flood assistance.
Their “long-term and enduring priority” includes professional or technical human resources.
Camacho said technical experts or specialists in critical areas such as entomologists, horticulturists, agricultural economists or statisticians, forecasting technicians and sales and marketing experts will help sustain the local agriculture industry.
He told Igisomar that local farmers are looking forward to the delivery of the promises made at the 2009 and 2010 farm summits sponsored by Northern Marianas College-Cooperation Research Extension and Education Services, and the 2009 and 2011 local economic restoration summits.
The summits, he added, prominently featured the agricultural sector as an emerging industry.
OIA’s recent economic summit on island also echoed a similar message, he said, and promised to “make agriculture the numero uno industry for the Northern Marianas.”
