Saint Lucian farmers are a bit more relieved now that banana boxes are available to export their crops.
Over the past weeks, farmers have been beset by a shortage of boxes from the WINERA boxing plant, but now, a supply of boxes have been shipped to the island.
According to Agriculture Minister Alfred Prospere, the shipment of boxes came in from different external sources and will assist farmers to get back to full production.
While saying that the issue has caused a “serious disruption” to farmers, the minister provided an update on the boxes and said that “last week…we received 8, 500 boxes from St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) through WINERA and we also received a container containing 12,000 boxes from the US.”
Presently, he said, there is an amount totaling approximately 20,500 boxes available to farmers. Also, it is reported that two farmers exported bananas out of Saint Lucia, last week.
Minister Prospere added that this week, the authorities anticipate an extra 17, 000 boxes coming in from the Dominican Republic (DR). These boxes, he explained, have been stuck in Jamaica a few weeks ago, and “fortunately, those boxes are expected to arrive in Saint Lucia by Thursday or Friday, this week”.
“I am happy that the farmers are relieved of the pressure and the challenge they faced over the last few weeks with the bananas,” Prospere told reporters on Monday.
Meanwhile, he stated that from last week, the agriculture department began the distribution of 500 one-gallon water tanks which will be provided to the island’s livestock farmers.
He said the venture was made possible through the World Bank Food and Nutrition Insecurity Project. “Our farmers have begun receiving those water tanks and we are hoping that within the next weeks we will be distributing another 500 water tasks to our crop farmers.”
Citing the impending drought conditions impacting the country and its farming communities, the minister said “we are going through a serious drought period now…and this time of year is not very comfortable for farmers because a lot of our farmers are not close to a water source and as a result they have to depend on the rain.”
He added, “We are hoping that those water tanks will encourage our farmers to do what we call ‘water harvesting’ and storage.”
Prospere also disclosed that last week, personnel from the Ministry of Agriculture visited the USA “to select a number of new bloodlines that is being brought to Saint Lucia, and that includes swine, goat and sheep.”
A total of 154 animals will be shipped to Saint Lucia, by the end of May.
“We’ve engaged a buyer in the US and now we are going through the selection process …hoping that we can get those animals into Saint Lucia,” the minister said.
He said that the authorities intends to get the Volet Agricultural Station, located at Micoud, in operation shortly. “We are also in the process of constructing an
Artificial Insemination Lab, at Volet, where we will use some of those new breeds to be able to boost the livestock sector,” the minister explained.
In addition, said Prospere, the department will roll out a Farm Labour Programme, geared “to assist our farmers with labour, (since) we know that is a serious challenge for them.”
He asserted that this venture to be implemented under the World Bank project “will have a very significant impact on the agricultural sector.” – By Reginald Andrew