More challenges identified as agri summit ends

The first ever Agricultural Summit may have ended yesterday, but farmers and ranchers still face a lot of challenges, among them identifying a solid market base for local products.

The summit, held at the Royal Taga Hall of Saipan World Resort, also posed questions for the industry regarding their standing vis-à-vis the current economic crisis and the impending federalization of the islands’ immigration this June.

Isidoro T. Cabrera, agricultural consultant for the Northern Marianas College-Cooperative Research, Extension and Education Service, said the high cost of electricity, gasoline, pesticide, shipping rates, as well as the lack of water, and even the anticipated effect of federalization, are hindering development of the agricultural sector.

Cabrera said it is expected that with the federalization of local immigration in June, the labor cost will rise because the sector will not have as much access to labor from the Philippines like before.

He said these are only some of the issues that contribute to the sector’s problems and that is why the summit was held to find solutions to them.

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial has vowed to support local farmers and ranchers by encouraging and facilitating the development of the industry.

“We want our farmers and ranchers to be more successful in our private sector. We want to be less reliant on imported produce, and we want to be a more self-sufficient community. We also want to capitalize on the military expansion in the region over the coming years,” he said.

NMC-CREES is one of three agencies, now referred to as the Farmers Support Group, that organized the event and drew around 200 participants after two days of deliberations. The two others are the Saipan Municipal Council and the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

“It was very successful as far as attendance is concerned. The comments from the stakeholders were overwhelming. There were a lot of issues raised and this is something that we need to carry on,” Cabrera said.

Panelists from the federal and local government agencies, in particular the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Commonwealth Development Authority, were bombarded with questions pertaining to funding and loans.

Participants from agricultural fairs on Tinian and Rota also joined via teleconference yesterday.

The biggest question that remained unanswered, however, was how these agencies could identify markets where local farmers can bring their produce, for instance the noni growers.

“There is more to be done. We have to really come up with something realistic to address their recommendations,” Cabrera said. “Farming and ranching is a never ending thing. We need to produce crops and improve the livestock industry to help the local economy grow and help reduce dependency on imports.”

William Torres, one of the advisers for the FSG, said the event was successful in that the participants were able to voice their concerns. “The key here is to identify where the market will be so that the producers would better understand and act accordingly,” Torres said.

He said the deliberations was kind of pleading engagement because “it’s really hard to target.”

He said it is better to approximate the value of the products rather than focusing mainly on the adequate supplies, which he said could be done with consistency, high quality, and less pesticide to maintain the freshness of the food.

“We need to compete with the Asian and U.S. products,” Torres said. “We are satisfied with the outcome of this summit but there should be a follow up.”

The second agricultural summit will be held within the year.