by Yolande Agard
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| A farm in St Vincent |
St Vincent is known across the region for its fertile soil; and one Vincentian said to me, ‘If you come to St Vincent you will be eating healthy and you will be eating well... locally grown fresh food and fresh caught fish every day.’
This sets the foundation on which the work of the Caribbean Agriculture and Research Development Institute (CARDI) in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) is posited.
The Common Fund for Commodities/European Union (CFC/EU) funded project for ‘Increased production of roots and tuber crops in the Caribbean through the introduction of improved production and marketing techniques’ is being implemented in St Vincent and the Grenadines, with other benefitting countries being Barbados, Dominica, Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago.
The tenets of this Project are such that inherent within its execution are the links to tourism, public health, nutrition, import substitution and foreign exchange savings.
SVG has received a budgeted allocation of EC$1.4M to be executed over a two-year period, commencing in 2011. Activities have been focused on two (2) primary areas:
This sets the foundation on which the work of the Caribbean Agriculture and Research Development Institute (CARDI) in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) is posited.
The Common Fund for Commodities/European Union (CFC/EU) funded project for ‘Increased production of roots and tuber crops in the Caribbean through the introduction of improved production and marketing techniques’ is being implemented in St Vincent and the Grenadines, with other benefitting countries being Barbados, Dominica, Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago.
The tenets of this Project are such that inherent within its execution are the links to tourism, public health, nutrition, import substitution and foreign exchange savings.
SVG has received a budgeted allocation of EC$1.4M to be executed over a two-year period, commencing in 2011. Activities have been focused on two (2) primary areas:
- Establish and/or refurbish plant propagation infrastructure
- provide weaning and hardening facilities and supply expendable propagating supplies
- Demonstrate and validate Integrate Crop Management practices and training
Leading the team in St Vincent is Dr. Gregory Robin, who also serves as Technical Coordinator for the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and Regional Councillor for the Caribbean, International Society for Tropical Root Crops (ISTRC).
Significant Project achievements include:
Significant Project achievements include:
- Refurbished five (5) small farine processing plants and sensitized the processors to new sanitation techniques and Good Manufacturing Practices
- Constructed a tissue culture Laboratory at Orange Hill
- Increased the production, weaning and hardening capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture’s facilities both at Orange Hill and Perseverance by over 200%
- Introduced over one hundred (100) farmers, twenty (20) extension officers and fifteen (15) stakeholders to the new improved sweet potato cultivars and training in all aspects of sweet potato production and handling
- Established sweet potato demonstration plots in the three main producing areas, specifically Akers, Chateaubelair and Rabacca
The work in SVG benefits the wider Eastern Caribbean through the provision of certified, disease free planting material.
One farine processor, Mr. Malcolm Knights is noted to have said “it has increased my capacity to produce”.
While Mr. Gordon Shallow, Extension Officer and supervisor for Region 2, also a beneficiary of the training conducted, stated “It was enlightening for the farmers to see the different varieties other than what exist in St Vincent”.
Farmer Hilford Bullock indicated that “he would use the CARDI Technology as it seemed to do better that his”.
The work of the CARDI SVG Unit is actively supported by the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines, in particular the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Transformation, Forestry and Fisheries. Other partnering institutions include the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA); Taiwanese Technical Mission (TTM); St Vincent and the Grenadines Bureau of Standards; and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Contact:
Yolande Agard-Simmons (868) 364-9674
yolande_as@hotmail.com
One farine processor, Mr. Malcolm Knights is noted to have said “it has increased my capacity to produce”.
While Mr. Gordon Shallow, Extension Officer and supervisor for Region 2, also a beneficiary of the training conducted, stated “It was enlightening for the farmers to see the different varieties other than what exist in St Vincent”.
Farmer Hilford Bullock indicated that “he would use the CARDI Technology as it seemed to do better that his”.
The work of the CARDI SVG Unit is actively supported by the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines, in particular the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Transformation, Forestry and Fisheries. Other partnering institutions include the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA); Taiwanese Technical Mission (TTM); St Vincent and the Grenadines Bureau of Standards; and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Contact:
Yolande Agard-Simmons (868) 364-9674
yolande_as@hotmail.com
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