8 students enroll in agriculture, aquaculture program

  The aquaculture industry in the Commonwealth gains ground as an ongoing and federally funded program is preparing eight students to equip them with the knowledge and training they need to become successful aquaculture farmers on island.

The students comprise Cohort 1 of the Agriculture and Aquaculture Enhancement Program, one of the sub-grant applications under the CNMI Department of Commerce that have been approved for a $1-million technical assistance grant from the U.S. Department of Interior Office of Insular Affairs.

The Agriculture and Aquaculture Enhancement Program, through the CNMI Aquaculture Producers Association, received a $90,000 funding in support of the CNMI Economic and Labor Enhancement Program aimed at training U.S. eligible workers in preparation of the reduction of foreign labor a result of U.S. Public Law 110-229 or the Consolidated Natural Resources Act which placed the islands’ immigration under federal control.

The Agriculture and Aquaculture Enhancement Program is also a collaborative effort with the Northern Marianas College-Cooperative Research, Extension & Education Service which hosts the program training.

The students were recruited from the Agriculture Science Class of Michael M. Ogo, NMC-CREES aquaculture extension agent. They are Juliana Arriola, Dan Bigalbal, Jesse Castro, and Zeralyn Omar for the morning session from 8:30am to 12:30pm. Those taking the afternoon classes from 1pm to 5pm are Maria Angui, Kenneth Camacho, Charlie Leon Guerrero, and Sasha Pangelinan.

Classes are held at the NMC campus in As Terlaje from Monday to Friday.

“After undergoing the training, this batch can become possible workforce in the aquaculture industry that it will not collapse should 2014 come around,” said Ogo in an interview.

Ogo said the program, which kicked off in May and will run for six months or until October, encompasses four different areas or sections. One section is the on-the-job training, which involves hands-on experience for the students in growing shrimp and tilapia.

The second section is the Aquaculture Training Online Learning or known as ATOLL, an online training involving some 90 instructional videos on aquaculture-related projects done by experts from around the world.

According to Ogo, the ATOLL was put together by the University of Hawaii Aquaculture Program through its aquaculture coordinator, Dr. Benny Ron, and distance education coordinator, Dr. Barbara Mclain.

“We are so proud to be the first in Micronesia to do this ATOLL,” Ogo told Saipan Tribune. “It shows that the trend in education now is that more and more people teach and learn by going online.”

Part of the Agriculture and Aquaculture Enhancement Program is the workshop that they provide to the trainees. Ogo said the students attended the shrimp workshop conducted by operations manager Mel Catalma of Saipan Aquaculture. A tilapia workshop by David Crisostomo, formerly of the University of Guam, is also in the works.

“We’ve got people with industry experience sharing their knowledge with our students to get them better equipped about aquaculture in the islands,” said Ogo.

The last but not the least component of the program involves training the students about the business aspect of aquaculture. “We believe that anyone can be a farmer but without business background, you will likely fail,” said Ogo.

Ogo noted that the eight students will also be attending the Bridge Program, a “guaranteed job interview program” also funded by OIA that provides training to participants to allow them to confidently conduct themselves in an interview.

“We want our students to be well-rounded and best prepared for the real world,” he added.

Ogo emphasized that the Agriculture and Aquaculture Enhancement Program has a two-fold aim: developing a local workforce and encouraging U.S. eligible workers to start their own business.

Last Wednesday, the program participants from the morning session gave Saipan Tribune a tour of the NMC-CREES facility, where the students have grown about 1,000 pieces of different tilapia varieties, as well as several crops like Romaine lettuce and basil through hydroponics.

Juliana Arriola, who majors in Special Education at NMC, said that her father’s small tilapia farm in Dandan got her interested to avail of the free aquaculture program.

“I’ve always been involved with my father’s business. I would help him feed, catch, and sell his fish so I think this program will help me help my father more. I’m learning a lot and my classmates motivate me,” said Arriola, 19.

For his part, Jesse Castro said he has learned more about aquaculture and hydroponics through the program.

“It’s an outstanding program that teaches you about food sustainability. I want to learn as much knowledge and hopefully put it into practice and pass it on to others,” said the retired educator and long-time farmer on Saipan.

Ogo expressed excitement in immediately starting Cohort 2 of the program immediately after Cohort 1. While several students are already interested to join, Ogo said the number that they can accommodate is very limited.

“We’re hoping that if we succeed in this program, we can continue to get more funding to train more people and further the growth of the CNMI’s aquaculture industry,” added Ogo.