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Proclamation honors farmers, ranchers
Lt. Gov. Victor B. Hocog, acting in Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’ stead, has proclaimed Aug. 4 as Saipan Agricultural Fair Day and Aug. 5 to 11 as Farmers and Ranchers Week, in recognition of the valuable role farmers and ranchers play in the CNMI community.
In Monday’s proclamation signing on Capital Hill, Hocog said he knows the difficult of farmers and ranchers face everyday in making sure local produce are supplied to the community.
“Being a rancher is difficult, even for just putting up a fence in the absence of any help; it is difficult to ensure that your cattle, pigs, and others are in a safe place. For farmers, it is hard to nourish the seed that you put on the ground,” said Hocog.
He pointed out that farmers help restaurants and other establishments with their supply of locally produced vegetables.
“With the new hotels and investments, they would need fresh vegetables. Rather than flying vegetables to the CNMI, where you need at least three days before you could use it, if we can come together, they [establishments] would have the supplies on island to feed their customers.”
He hopes fishermen would be included in the future. “We really need to promote this more. And I take this to heart, since I’m a farmer and rancher, too. What is missing is the fishermen. …We need to look into having our fishermen too. I hope that in the future this can be considered as part of the celebration. Bringing together what our ancestors taught us—being a famer, rancher, and a fisherman.”
Hocog hopes the Northern Marianas College-Cooperative Research Extension and Educational Services could help with that and highlight the importance of fishermen in providing the community with produce.
Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang thanked the farmers in providing the community with fresh fruits and vegetables. “I encourage them [farmers] to continue to provide us with fresh produce for our healthy consumption. I also encourage everyone in educating our people to eat healthy food. …Thank you to the farmers and let us celebrate this year’s 35th [Agricultural Fair Day]. I’m looking forward to a bigger celebration next year.”
