By Liz Rahaman
Food production in St. Kitts and Nevis is expected to grow significantly by this year, with some 100 acres of land being allocated for the cultivation of peanut, cabbage, onion, carrot, sweet pepper, tomato, white potato, pineapple, watermelon and sweet potato.
Director of Agriculture Dr. Jerome Thomas told The Observer that with a total of approximately 146 former SSMC workers on the breadline, Government has sought the assistance of the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) to accelerate support for the displaced workers who have expressed an interest in farming.
The objective of the project valued at $1 million, is to supply the necessary inputs for the establishment of 100 crops and 46 livestock production enterprises, the improvement of the Basseterre abattoir and the establishment of a peanut drying facility.
While peanut is the main focus of the project, other commodities would include cabbage, onion, carrot, sweet peppers, tomato, white potato, pineapple, watermelon and sweet potatoes, Thomas pointed out…
“So it’s a whole range of crops, but peanut has been identified because the production fell drastically and it has been one of the main crops along with sweet potatoes. The cultivation of peanuts, sweet potatoes and pumpkins have been identified as the main crops to be planted by the former SSMC workers,” Thomas added.
Thomas disclosed that due to the closure of the sugar industry last year, the production of peanuts and sweet potatoes remained relatively low because of the limited access to farming lands.
These crops were previously planted on sugar cane lands but since the closure of the sugar industry last July no significant amount of lands has been made available for the continued planting of the crops.
The production figure for peanut in 2005 amounted to 60,000 pounds, “the demand is double that amount. So there is a shortage of peanuts and sweet potatoes,” Thomas added and envisaged with the intervention of the FAO funds, the 60,000 pounds of peanut would be doubled to match the market demand.
“We anticipate cultivating 100 acres of peanut over the period of twelve months,” Thomas said.
The focus of the peanut cultivation would be on the domestic market and it is expected that under a South/South Cooperation Agreement, four technicians would arrive to assist with the peanut project to commence later this year.
During a review of the first quarter of this year, he noted that the production of cabbage is down because of an insect pest infestation. Onion production upped from 9,000kg to double the amount while the yields on white potato were recorded at 15,000 pounds per acre and it is projected that by the end of this year they would amount to 300,000 pounds. The normal yield for white potato is 10-12,000 pounds per acre.
