A crop that not a lot of farmers on island are planting today could have been the NMI’s big industry if given proper attention by local leaders many years ago.
One of the successful entrepreneurs during the pre-commonwealth era on Saipan said tapioca could have provided sustainable economic activity on island.
Escolastica Tudela Cabrera, whose family continues to offer authentic local delicacies to tourists and residents, has never lost her enthusiasm for tapioca.
With her children now running the family store on Capital Hill, Cabrera still believes that tapioca and other local agriculture products can help boost the local economy.
Tapioca flour, also known as cassava or tapioca starch, is derived from a root crop known as Manihot eculenta.
This plant species, native to South American and Asian countries, is used worldwide as thickening agent in certain dishes. It is a major source of carbohydrates. Its name is derived from a native South American word, tipi’oka, which refers to the process that makes the starch edible.
Today, tapioca flour is found in many health and grocery stores.
Tapioca root can also be used to manufacture environmentally friendly plastic bags. A polymer resin found in the plant is a viable plastic substitute, which is not only biodegradable but also compostable, renewable and recyclable.
Tapioca is part of the NMI’s economic history. Before World War II, Saipan was all about tapioca and sugar cane. There was sugar cane factory in Chalan Kanoa and there was a tapioca factory in Lower Base.
Many local pastries were made from tapioca but it was not until 1954 when Cabrera got into the business of baking.
Cabrera, who celebrated her 80th birthday last February, recalled waking up one day and asking her mother how to make bread. Her mother said she would need flour, oil, baking powder and an oven.
Cabrera said she baked her first batch of bread and pastries without any further instructions from her mother.
She worked hard until she perfected her technique.
She built her first snack bar at Isley Field in Koblerville and tapioca became a big part of her home-made pastries.
As her business grew, Cabrera saw the potential of tapioca to be the island’s industry.
At the time, she also became active in civic organizations. She was the chairwoman of the 1963 Liberation Day’s Queen Committee, the vice president of the Micronesian Arts and Crafts Association and the secretary of the Saipan Farmers Market Association.
During the Trust Territory era, she was interviewed by a TV crew from Guam and her story was also published in a magazine. She was hailed as an island entrepreneur.
Cabrera said even back then, she already knew that various products could come from tapioca. Tapioca by-product, for example, is good for livestock.
In the early 1980’s, Cabrera decided she wanted to build a starch factory using tapioca.
But she said the Economic Development Authority, now known as the Commonwealth Development Authority, disapproved her loan application.
Cabrera said she waited too long just to be told that her application was rejected.
She wanted to buy a machine needed in manufacturing starch which she planned to export to Asian countries.
She had a feasibility study for tapioca starch.
“If I only had that tapioca starch factory, we would not have needed those garment factories,” Cabrera said.
With a three-hectare farm on Capital Hill and with her son planting tapioca on his own farm, Cabrera is still serious about opening a tapioca starch factory.
All she needs, she said, is a little help from the government.
