Pacific Magazine > Magazine > November 1, 2006

Federated States of Micronesia

A Good Harvest

FSM Pilot Farm’s Success

By Jessica Chapman, POHNPEI

Federated States of Micronesia residents in the near future may more regularly subsist on produce such as tomatoes, watermelon, string beans and fresh spinach due to the success of a pilot farm on Pohnpei.

The farm, an aid project of the Chinese government, was established nearly 10 years ago with the intention of training FSM farmers, students and the general public in advanced farming techniques under the guidance of rotating expert Chinese agriculturalists.

By experimenting with different seeds and conditions over the years the Chinese farmers have developed recommendations for approaches to best suit Pohnpei’s humid, rainy climate and weak soil. They gesture proudly to successful tomato plants. It has taken four attempts to cultivate the elusive fruit.

Farmers at the a Chinese-funded pilot farm in Pohnpei are training FSM farmers, students and the general public in advanced farming techniques. [Photo: Jessica Chapman]

Tidy rows of leafy cabbage varieties stretch out evenly in the farm’s meticulous rectangular plots. Nearby, healthy green seedlings reach eagerly for the sky. Some crops lay under large white canopies. Others rest secured under plastic covering.

Cungui Xu, deputy team leader of the five resident farmers, points out healthy gourds, pumpkins, leeks and the popular seedless watermelon. Pigs raised nearby provide a constant source of fertilizer.

Via the state’s Department of Agriculture, the farm employs six local workers to work full-time with and learn from the farmers. In addition, students from the College of Micronesia spend summers at the farm. Further, 20-30 local farmers visit each year for short stints of weeks or months to gain knowledge and skills. 

“Our ultimate aim is to train them and after that they can go back to their respective land and carry on what they learn,” said Adelino Lorens, chief of agriculture for Pohnpei. The state Department of Agriculture serves as a technical counterpart to the farm.

Lorens cites an ultimate goal of decreasing imports to the islands and increasing reliance on locally-grown products. Pohnpei alone, he mentions, imports 50,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables each month.

According to the Chinese embassy in Pohnpei, the farm has also hosted more than 1,000 visitors annually in an effort to promote consumption of fresh, healthy local products and interest in home gardening.

Though the farm is intended to serve the entire FSM, logistics and financial constraints have thus far prevented participation of farmers from the country’s other three states.

Testament to its success, the farm has lately been harvesting in excess of 5,000 pounds each month of produce otherwise largely unavailable to residents.

It is unclear how the farm will be managed once the project ends. Aid to the farm from the Chinese government is scheduled to conclude next November.

The Chinese embassy maintains its intention to deliver the farm into local hands. However, details have yet to be negotiated.

“The project is not ending, said Lorens. “Assistance might end but it is our intention to keep it going as a training ground.”

According to Wenlin Chen, First Secretary to the Chinese embassy in Pohnpei, “We will try to encourage some Chinese to cooperate further with local farmers.”