‘Local produce, livestock are of poor quality’

An agricultural trade mission from Korea discovered that Saipan’s produce and livestock are below standards, according to CNMI agriculturists.

Department of Lands and Natural Resources agriculturist Ben Borja and Isidoro Cabrera, agricultural consultant to the Northern Marianas College’s Cooperative Research Education Extension Service, disclosed this finding by the Hong Song City Agriculture Association of Korea.

The Korean group visited Saipan on a four-day mission, visiting farms on the island.

“We have to improve. Otherwise, we are below standards,” Cabrera said. “They [trade mission representatives] saw our system. They were comparing Korea and Saipan. Korea is modernized.”

Cabrera said the Korean group is willing to help improve the quality of the CNMI’s agricultural products through information sharing and demonstrations.

The Korean group’s president, Lee Young Ho, said the association will sponsor agricultural training to certain CNMI representatives. In return, the group wants the CNMI to host English language classes to some Koreans.

Cabrera said local fruits and vegetables are generally of poor quality, including those being sold at the Sabalu market. Saipan’s piggeries do not have good watering system, he added.

Cabrera also said Saipan does not have enough land allotted to cattle raising. Even the quality of grasses on existing ranches is of poor quality, he added.

“When you improve the feeds, you will improve the quality of the meat,” Cabrera said. We are open [to ideas] and if we have the supplies, we can improve in a few years.”

The Korean group also urged the CNMI’s agriculturists to improve noni production, saying that demand for the product is high in the Asian country.

Cabrera said the CNMI will respond to the challenge. Cabrera disclosed that Saipan has begun planting noni, but the noni farms only have an aggregate area of less than three acres. He said the magnitude of the current noni farming just serves local consumption.

For commercial consumption, Saipan has to have more than 20 acres of noni farms. This, however, may be accomplished in two to three years, added Cabrera.

The CREES has also been working with the Tinian Mayor’s Office, which plans to develop up to 250 hectares of noni farms on Tinian.

Dr. Thomas D. Arkle, the mayor’s special consultant for resource development, said the island’s chief executive has envisioned the worldwide popularity of noni as a healthy herbal supplement as another revenue generating project on Tinian, notwithstanding the influx of multi-million-dollar casino investments and the possible relocation of Marine troops from Okinawa, Japan to the island.

Arkle disclosed that Tinian already has about 50,000 noni seedlings in the early stage of growth. At this stage, Arkle disclosed that certain Japanese consumers have already been communicating with the Tinian government regarding noni products.