Sei Enterprise Inc. Farm Pohnpei Pepper

Project Overview

FW07-028
Project Type: Farmer/Rancher
Funds awarded in 2007: $12,000.00
Projected End Date: 12/31/2009
Region: Western
State: Federated States of Micronesia
Principal Investigator:
Sei Uemoto
Email
Sei Enterprises Inc.

Commodities

  • Vegetables: peppers

Practices

  • Crop Production: agroforestry
  • Education and Training: demonstration, extension, farmer to farmer, on-farm/ranch research, participatory research
  • Production Systems: general crop production

    Proposal summary:

    Sei Enterprises Inc. Farm, a large producer of Pohnpei black pepper for the last 10 years, has found that the fern trees used as support posts for the pepper plants are decreasing in size and availability. To find fern trees that are big enough requires harvests deep in the forest, which increases costs.

    The Farmer/Rancher grant will test whether an alternative “living post” will work as a pepper support. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Gliricida, a leguminous tree, can support the pepper and mulch the plant.

    The project will test Gliricida as well as other trees for their viability as pepper supports. An important element of the test will be to gauge Gliricida fertilizer needs, which are said to be high. However, with the cost of each fern tree post at around $5, compared with the estimated cost of $1 per Gliricida tree, there is a potential to save as much as 80% on each plant support.

    Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.