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NMC aids farmers obtain 59K in grants
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Posted on Apr 06 2009
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program recently awarded 21 farmer/rancher grants totaling $325,000. From this total, five CNMI ranchers and farmers will get $59,090 for various projects aimed at sustaining agricultural profitability and promoting environmental stewardship.
Pedro Ariola will demonstrate the feasibility of solar energy in sustainable aquaculture to address high costs in conventionally produced electricity. He was awarded $10,469.
Carolyn Hosono aims to maximize aquaculture productivity with sequential polyculture systems with a grant of $14,892.
Rick Atalig will get $10,000 for sustainable deer production on Rota.
Joe Borja will receive $14,729 for pineapple production.
Ben Borja was awarded $9,000 to demonstrate an alternative poultry production system on Tinian.
Staff members from the Northern Marianas College – Cooperative Research Education and Extension Service helped the grantees with writing their grant proposal, and they will also assist them with their projects as technical advisers.
During a recent meeting, Dr. Allan Sabaldica, NMC-CREES WSARE grant coordinator, congratulated the recipients of the competitive grants. He said all farmers and ranchers “can apply for these grants if they have an idea of how to implement sustainable methods in their production.”
Western SARE awards grants every year not only to farmers and ranchers, but also to professionals and producers for research and education, professional development, as well as grants for postgraduate students in sustainable agriculture.
Grant applications can be downloaded from http://wsare.usu.edu/. For more information about the different WSARE grants, contact Sabldica at NMC-CREES Tinian office at 433-0639 or NMC-CREES Saipan office at 234-5498, ext. 1707. NMC-CREES staff members are available to assist in the application of these grants. [B][I](NMC)[/I][/B]
