Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council member Ray Camacho yesterday said they have organized a farmers support group that will create a cooperative to deal with an off-island market that is expected to expand in the years to come.
According to Camacho, CNMI farmers can meet the demand for fresh vegetables and fruits on Guam, but since shipping cost is not cheap, they need help in shipping their produce so they won’t have to pass it on to the consumers.
Private shipping firms charge 40 cents per pound of vegetable and fruits shipped to Guam.
“We are now communicating with airlines and will meet with military personnel again to look at possibility of assisting CNMI farmers in transporting produce to Guam,” Camacho said.
The Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council, Camacho added, is the lead agency that initiated the formation of a farmers support group that will cooperate with the Sabalu Farmers Market Association Inc. in creating a cooperative.
Larry Bentley, zone manager for Guam’s Defense Commissary Agency, and Lynnwood Baker, of Guam buyer JL Baker & Sons, met with CNMI farmers last month and told them that military was interested in forging a deal with an organized farmers group and not with individual farmers.
For his part, agriculture consultant Isidoro Cabrera said that considering the CNMI’s limited resources in terms of manpower, equipment and even water supply, meeting the demand for produce will be a challenge.
However, since these concerns are being addressed now by the farmers group and concerned agencies, he believes the CNMI farmers “can do it.”
“But we are talking about thousands of pounds of vegetable and fruit exports here so we really need to increase our production,” he added.
A 1976 procurement form from military indicated an order from the Northern Marianas of 16,250 pounds of cabbage alone.
