March 3rd, 2017 -- Many farmers in St. Kitts and Nevis have been growing crops without much improvement from their production output. This could be as a result of soil fertility and other related factors as studies have shown that different crops need different types of soils, different types and amount of fertilizers. In 2015, the ministry of Agriculture and government of Republic of China (Taiwan) through its International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) established soil fertility analysis laboratory in St. Kitts in an effort to understand and to improve soil fertility. Under the Vegetable Fruit and Upland Crop Quality and Safety Improvement Project (VFUCQSIP) the first ever soil fertility analysis laboratory was established in St. Kitts and Nevis.
The (VFUCQSIP) state of arts soil fertility analysis laboratory was commission by the Honorable Minister of Agriculture Hon. Eugene Hamilton in 2015. The Laboratory with competent and qualified team of management, technicians and staff provides world class services in soil fertility analysis. Up to date, over 300 soil samples have been collected and analyzed. The soil fertility analysis focuses on six (6) major soil fertility indicators which includes: pH, conductivity, organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. In addition, GIS technology was developed and mapped out soil fertility and with that St Kitts and Nevis soil information platform was established to provide relevant data on soil fertility status of various farming location in the Federation. To access the soil fertility GIS Map and other information about the project please log on to https://sites.google.com/view/sknsip/index. However, not only that the soil fertility analysis results and recommendations are provided but there are better improvement in understanding and knowledge of soil fertility that will help to improve agricultural production in the federation.
In year 2016, with tremendous progress made in analysis and mapping of soil fertility in St Kitts and Nevis, there was need to understand the relationship between the soil fertility of the farming areas and crops that are being cultivated. Researches have proved that there are significant relationship between soil fertility and crops yield. In fact it has been established that soil fertility and geo-climatic and biogeographic factors affect crops production. Consequently, International experts in Taiwan have established correlation between soil fertility and crops suitability in the Island of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Twenty three (23) major cultivated crops in Federation were analyzed, these includes: (1)Banana, (2) Broccoli, (3)Cabbage, (4) Cantaloupe, (5) Carrot (6) Corn, (7) Cucumber, (8) Eggplant (9)Green onion , (10)Okra, ( 11)Onion, (12) Papaya, (13) Peanut, (14) Pineapples, (15)Plantain, (16)Pumpkin, (17) Sorrel, (18) Sweet pepper, (19) Potato (20) Tomato, (21) Watermelon, (22) Yam, (23) Furthermore, Geographical Information System (GIS) technology was developed. Through the GIS crop mapping technology the twenty three (23) different crops and different location where these crops could be grown to produce greater harvest in St. Kitts and Nevis were identified and represented in the GIS contour.
The significant of this development is remarkable, farmers or anyone could easily find out which suitable locations where different crops could be cultivated to optimize production. Moreover, the GIS crop mapping will reduce cost of buying expensive fertilizers and increase profitability as the technology could easily be deploy to map out the ideal crops for ideal soils location. This new technological development will eliminate trial and error in farming and bring about some level of accuracy and precision in farming operation. Meanwhile, GIS has remained a key technology in modern agriculture and in order to boost local GIS manpower in Agricultural sector, Mr. Augustine Nwosu-Project Manager VFUCQSIP will be representing the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis in International workshop training billed to take place at Taiwan in April 2017. The 28 nations two (2) weeks International workshop will focus on GIS and Agricultural Land management.
Finally, the GIS technology is one of the major tools in modern Agriculture and Precision farming. Soil fertility and Crop suitability mapping of farm areas in St. Kitts and Nevis has been possible through GIS technology. Indeed the development and application of GIS technology will bring a lot of benefits in the development of Agricultural sector in the Federation St. Kitts and Nevis.
To learn more about the V.F.U.C.Q.S.I.P project please contact Shih-Lung Cheng (Mario) at 4652372 or email: c.s.lung@icdf.org.tw, OR Augustine Nwosu at 4652372 or email: austinenwosu@gmail.com
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