Agriculture’s $8K budget hurts services

The Division of Agriculture’s annual budget of only $8,000 for its operations has been hurting services to farmers and ranchers.

Agriculture director Richard B. Seman said yesterday the division has temporarily stopped lending tractors to commercial farmers because none of the three tractors is working.

There’s no money to buy the parts and even if they are fixed, they may not be used because of lack of funds to buy fuel to run them.

One of the tractors is over 30 years old, while the other two are over 25 years old.

“They’ve been breaking down more frequently. There’s more stuff for us to buy if the parts are broken. …It’s come to a point where we need to replace them,” Seman told Saipan Tribune.

One tractor costs $55,000 to $70,000, which is much higher than the division’s annual operational budget of $8,000.

“With this $8,000, we buy fuel, lubricant, office and operational supplies, and we need to run four offices—animal industry, plant industry, plant and animal quarantine, and soil and water conservation,” he said.

Farmers used to borrow Agriculture’s tractor and other equipment for $20 an hour. This service was stopped last year due to broken parts and high fuel cost.

“We need at least $100,000 for all our programs. The fortunate thing is, the division doesn’t pay for utilities because the Department [of Lands and Natural Resources] pays for it,” he said, adding that personnel budget has also been tight.

The division provides services to farmers to enhance the production and cultivation of locally produced crops. It provides farm equipment, farm plots and propagation crops to farmers for a nominal fee. In partnership with Northern Marianas College-Cooperative Research Extension and Education Service, it helps farmers in producing quality crops.

Agriculture, which has 40 employees, also conducts surveys and assessments of farm lots, provides assistance in times of national disasters, particularly in assessing damage to crops and livestock, provides veterinary services, and monitors level of ranching.

Other Agriculture programs including Forestry rely on federal funds, which eases the operational budget shortfall. Through federal grants, the division has been able to buy supplies like computers.

Seman said the Parole Office and the Office of Probation help them cope with funding shortage by having inmates or those under probation required to do community service work at Agriculture.