About 80 local farmers and ranchers, including the more than 30 who are leasing commercial farm plots in Kagman, are expected to attend the summit which will be held on Saipan for the first time.
In an interview yesterday, Seman, who is part of the organizing committee, said local farming is still at subsistence level.
However, he said, it’s now the time to come together and come up with a concerted effort to boost local agriculture.
Local farmers, Seman said, know what’s best for them but they seem to be going their separate ways, not realizing the need to set one goal that can be achieved collectively if they organize themselves.
This summit, he said, will be the venue to put ideas together and allow farmers and rancher to cope with the CNMI’s economic challenges.
“In the summit we will try to identify the most viable measures that can be developed in the next meetings to come,” Seman said.
Businesspersons, industry leaders and officials of government agencies are also expected to participate in the summit.
Farmers’ issues
There are still a lot of unresolved issues facing farmers according to Saipan Municipal Council vice chairman Ray Blas Camacho, one of the summit organizers.
A Kagman farmer, Camacho said the number one issue for farmers is the limited market for their produce.
The local market is expected to shrink once the exodus of nonresident workers begins as a result of the federalization of the CNMI immigration system, he said.
The new market that farmers are looking at right now is the military build-up on Guam, he added.
Seman said they will try to expand the market for the CNMI’s agricultural products.
The U.S. military recently urged Saipan’s farmers to form a single entity that can meet the armed forces’ demand for fresh food products.
The second issue that Camacho wants to address in the summit is the “rampant sponsorship” of foreign workers who end up tilling farms and competing with local farmers.
“There are still many of them out there, he said, “and I want all farmers to join hands in combating such a scheme.”
The other major issues for farmers are the on-and-off water supply for the Kagman commercial farm plots and lack of equipment, Camacho said.
He noted that there have been many plans drawn up in the past to address the farmers’ irrigation needs but none have materialized.
