Natural Resources Conservation Service Soil Technician Pele Iuta, the Honorable Governor of American Samoa Togiola Tulafono and FSA Agricultural Specialist Josephine Malepeai Lealasola at the American Samoa Territorial Farm Festival.
The American Samoa Government Department of Agriculture (ASDOA) recently revived the Territorial Farm Festival with a two-day event that provided an opportunity for Farm Service Agency staff to reach out to more than 400 farmers, ranchers and beginning producers.
With new leadership at the helm, the American Samoa Department of Agriculture brought back the Territorial Farm Fest this year after a four-year hiatus. Agencies and organizations whose mission is to support farming on the island were invited to present and display information.
“We signed up more than 30 producers for the free recordkeeping class offered as part of the strategic outreach plan for American Samoa,” said Josephine Lealasola, FSA agricultural specialist who also distributed information on farm programs and loans. “If we can get our producers to keep records we can increase the avenues by which the Farm Service Agency can provide them assistance through our programs. Unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation out there about what FSA can and can’t do. I’ve found the best way to combat this problem is to meet with farmers one on one at events like this.”
The event also showed a resurgence of the taro crop that was decimated in 1993 due to leaf blight disease.
“Due to the efforts of the Department of Agriculture, assistance from the Independent State of Samoa and Iosefa Tolo with the Secretariat of Pacific Communities; new parasite resistant taro crops have resulted in restoring one of American Samoa’s staple crops,” said Agriculture Director Lealaō Melila Purcell.
