Pohnpei Farmers Association Selects Priority Crops

Written by Delpihn Abraham

Thursday, 21 January 2010

By: Delpihn Abraham Island Food Community of Pohnpei On December 15, 2009, the Pohnpei Farmers Association had a workshop coordinated by the Pohnpei Agriculture of the Office of Economic Affairs. Other facilitators were the Natural Resources Conservation Services, FSM Resources and Development, Development of Sustainable Agriculture in the Pacific, COM-FSM Cooperative Extension Services, Island Food Community of Pohnpei, Forestry and Marine Conservation. The purpose of the workshop was to select priority crops and to identify needed projects. The identified crops were A- root crops (1-yam, 2-giant swamp taro, 3-Colocasia taro (sawa), 4-cassava, 5-sweet potato; B-fruits (1-breadfruit, 2-banana, 3- citrus, 4-soursop, 5-papaya, 6-pineapple; C-vegetables (all suitable varieties); D-other important crops (1-sakau, 2-black pepper, 3-coconut).  The crops were prioritized using the CHEEF benefits of local food as criteria. The CHEEF benefits are Culture, Health, Environment, Economy and Food Security. There were about 30 farmers present and they were very excited to learn from both the facilitators and from each other. Another exciting thing about this workshop was that both the refreshments and the lunch served were totally local. The Pohnpei State Farmers Association and the Office of Economic Affairs would like to give a big thanks to all participants and the sponsors, including the AusAID small grant scheme and US Forestry.  LET’S GO LOCAL, think CHEEF!

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 03 March 2010 )