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$1.6M now available for CNMI farmers
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Posted on Nov 30 2004
Some $1.6 million in federal funds will be available in fiscal year 2005 to assist farmers in applying conservation practices on agricultural land in the CNMI, American Samoa, and Guam.
The funding is being made available under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, or EQIP, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Applications are now being accepted for EQIP.
EQIP provides assistance to farmers and ranchers who face soil, water, air, and related natural resource concerns and are willing to implement conservation measures on their land. The program, a competitive and popular conservation program, is voluntary. Through EQIP, farmers and ranchers may receive up to 50 percent financial cost-share to help install or implement structural and management conservation practices on eligible land. Limited resource and beginning farmers may receive up to 90 percent cost-share. Funding includes financial and technical assistance to qualified participants.Applications may be submitted at the local NRCS office located in the Saipan USDA Service Center in the DY Building, Beach Road, South Garapan. Fiscal year 2005 sign-up deadlines for the Pacific Basin Area are Dec. 22, 2004 and April 22, 2005
For more information about NRCS, EQIP and other Farm Bill programs, contact the CNMI Field Office at (670) 236-0888 or 0880. Interested parties may also visit the EQIP 2005 webpage at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/eqip/ or the NRCS Pacific Basin webpage at www.pb.nrcs.usda.gov.
The USDA prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call 202-720-5964 (voice or TDD).
