Extension and Advisory Services officer Donawa Jackson, agricultural officer of region two and Alston Lynch, agricultural instructor responsible for District 5 East, along with the Minister of Agriculture, Saboto Caesar visited the farm of Kenroy Bacchus at Bahamian last Monday.
The visit was to assess post-harvest handling procedures and yield per acre of the two new dasheen cultivars: Somoana (green petiole) and IND512 (red petiole) to be exported to the United Kingdom.
The preliminary findings indicate overall good application procedures as they relate to proper harvesting, cleaning and sorting and an observed satisfactory increase in quality and quantity per area.
This is part of an ongoing effort by the region and, by extension, the Ministry of Agriculture to increase roots, stems and tuber production and productivity for local consumption and export.
We are paying $6.99/lb in Toronto and about $5.99 US for leaves coming in from Dominican Republic, or other Central South American countries or even Jamaica and Trinidad. What a waste when there is a market for such nutritious leaves that provide iron, vitamin C, vitamin A and vitamin K. At least do some marketing research and find added value for our resources We pat $2+,CAD for avocados that are rotten before they ripe and ninety-five percent of the time they are hard and black and rotten inside when they are cut, Do something more about turmeric, avocado, plantains, eddoes and white and yellow yams. We still eat WEST INDIAN and CARIBBEAN FOODS up here, SO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS too.