By Claudia Liburd
Nevis Reporter - SKNVibes.com
 |
| Agriculture Marketing Official Steve Reed |
(Charlestown; Nevis) The Nevis Agricultural Department held an Open Day in the Charlestown Memorial Square on Friday, March 16.
At the Open Day they distributed fruits and vegetables that are in surplus on the local market.
The general public was invited to attend the Open Day by means of radio and television announcement on Thursday evening.
The Agriculture Department Marketing Officer Steve Reed explained to SKNVibes.com that supplies did not last as long as anticipated as a large number of people arrived even before the start of the event.
Tomatoes, watermelon, honey dew, cabbage and pumpkin were among the products given away. The event commenced at 12 p.m. and Reed intimated that due to widespread advertisement a large crowd was awaiting Agriculture officials at the designated time. ~~adz:Right~~
"We started at 12 p.m. and due to the fact that we were advertised so well on the television and radio there was a crowd waiting here," he said. "We expected the goods to last for quite some time but unfortunately because everyone waited for us so patiently things went a lot faster than we originally planned. However, it is a promotion and it will be done again very soon."
He continued: "We have this promotion going on which should be leading up to our annual Open Day Fair and basically to get people to support local productions."
He added that their main objective when people receive the products is that they would go home, taste the difference and see how long it lasts in their refrigerator.
"We hope they develop a taste for it," he said. "I say this because in the supermarkets they are not labeled whether the produce is local or imported."
Reed further explained that the Agriculture Department recently established a label to certify local products to enable the consumer to distinguish local products from imports.
 |
| Persons gathered at Charlestown Memorial Square for Open Day. Photos by Claudia Liburd |
"Another thing that people might notice is that there is now a label on our food; we at the Agriculture Department have developed a label to certify local products so that you actually know when you are eating local from when you are not," he said.
Communications Officer at the Agriculture office Eric Evelyn further elaborated on how agriculture currently benefits the local economy.
"We know that tourism is the main industry on our island but what we are trying to push at the Agriculture Department is that we are trying to have linkage between tourism and agriculture because once the tourists come we want to give them a local experience," Evelyn said. "Agriculture is an integral part of the economy of St. Kitts and Nevis and I think that even though Agriculture is not at the stage that we would want it to be at; I think it is still making a very solid contribution to our economy."
