Last Updated on November 26, 2024, 7:09 AM AST by Anthony Morris
Bridgetown, Barbados: Farmers of St Kitts and Nevis that produce sweet pepper and lettuce have received hands on training in good agricultural practices and technologies to improve yields and ensure that the production remains resilient during climate risk.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United States (FAO) in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture St Kitts and Nevis launched a technical training that provided insights on best practices for improved cultivation of high value crops that was held last month.
The training was held to build the capacity of farmers by introducing standard practices for the growth of sweet peppers and lettuce in soil and hydroponics. During this training, the farmers were educated by the FAO with both theoretical and practical demonstrations.
The farmers were trained on several topics including seedling production, creating optimal conditions for growth, crop nutrition, pest management and harvest and post-harvest management.
The FAO Trade and Markets Officer for the Caribbean and Lead Technical Officer for the project, Juan Cheaz Pelaez presented facts about the risk to the food supply chain in the region and highlighted the need for motivation among all the value chain actors to take a mutual action.
He noted that in recent years, the agrifood system is under a great pressure because of climate change risk, volatile markets, and rising cost of inputs, which has been making production more difficult.
He also linked the situation to policy milestones, such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the initiative to reduce the region’s food import bill by 25 percent by 2025.
In addition to this, the FAO Team is also preparing a training package for use by the farmers and more trainings will be provided in the upcoming to make sure that the knowledge and technology is delivered to the farmers.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
