By John Denny
Nevis Reporter
(Charlestown, Nevis) – The recent food crisis is bringing more emphasis to self-sustainability for the Federation. One government agency that’s glad to see this trend is the Agriculture Department’s Extension Service.
Eric Evelyn, Extension Communication Officer, has been with the service for 22 years. He has seen many technological advances in agriculture during his tenure with the Extension, but he says there is much room for improvement.
“I would like to see agriculture go much further than it has,” said Mr. Evelyn. “With backyard farming we could move so much closer to being self sufficient. The island has a rich heritage of agriculture with good soil and good weather. We need to return to farming.”
The Extension provides a number of services for farmers such as providing seeds at cost, doing research on plants and stock animals and providing advice.
“Mostly, we deal with farmers giving technical assistance and provide one on one support on agronomic practices,” He said. “We also conduct trials on different types of plants.”
Currently Extension is doing tests on a variety of onions.
“We are doing trials to see which strains have the longest shelf life and which ones make the biggest bulbs,” Mr. Evelyn said. “We are also doing trials on tomatoes, yams, sweet potatoes and sweet peppers.”
Extension is also doing research on such things as plastic mulch to conserve water, drip irrigation to avoid carrying water and pruning techniques for increasing yields.
Mr. Evelyn would like to see more support from the government, but he would also like to see those working in agriculture become more independent.
“I would like to see farmers with a very dynamic, proactive organization that would benefit all. I would like to see the farmers united,” He said. “Right now, they depend on the (Agriculture) Department for too many things.”
There are currently two farming unions on the island: The Nevis Growers Association and the Nevis Livestock Farming Association. These organizations work as a bargaining unit for prices, do advocacy in agriculture and procure seeds at a bulk rate.
The department rents government owned land to farmers at a rate of EC$20 per acre, per year. A branch of the Agriculture Department, called the Marketing Unit, receives the produce/livestock and sells it for a 10 percent fee.
“It is a great service (the Marketing Unit) is doing for the farmers and the price is very fair,” he said.
Mr. Evelyn agrees with others in the department that for Nevis to return to its agricultural roots, the perceptions of the youth about farming must change.
“We are working with the primary schools by showing container gardening, but we need to start reaching out more to the young people,” he said. “This is where we need support from the government the most. At an early age – in the primary schools we need to develop curriculum that encourages our youth to look to agriculture as a career. There are successful farmers on Nevis. If we could get them to come and talk to children, they would be great role models and an investment in our future.”
