By Claudia Liburd
Nevis Reporter - SKNVibes.com
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| Eric Evelyn, Communications Officer at the Department of Agriculture |
(Charlestown; Nevis): -- A showcase of technological advancement was the main course on the menu at the 13th Annual Agriculture Open Day which was held at the Charlestown Villa on Thursday March 29.
The Open Day, themed "Implementing Science and Technology to Increase and Sustain Agricultural Productivity" was held under the patronage of Fountain fisherman, Charles Cozier.
In an interview with SKNVibes.com, Communications Officer at the Ministry of Agriculture, Eric Evelyn explained that this year's activities were being held with a view to creating awareness of the greater level of agriculture that is taking place on island.
"Of course we want to create a greater awareness of the level of agriculture that is taking place on the island. We also want to showcase the quality of crops, animal produce, items from the fisheries and private entities. In general we also want to foster collaboration between the Department of Agriculture and its clients as well as its allied agencies. Basically what we want is to encourage greater production," he said.
To foster greater production, Evelyn made mention of various technologies to aid farmers including containerized gardens, "vermiculture", "fertigation" as well as Biogas energy production.
"We are showcasing advanced technology such as grass trippers which cut up grass or sugar cane to convert it into animal feed," he said. "We are also pushing the technology of containerized gardens, which is when you do not have a lot of space, you can put your plants into flower pots on the window sill and in different parts of the house."
He continued: "Of course this is very beneficial as it saves you money and you are eating food that you grew yourself and you are eating more nutritious food. Further, we are going to be showcasing "vermiculture" which is the making of compost with a special breed of worms. Also, we will showcase Biogas which is actually the production of energy from animal manure."
Technology displayed at the Agriculture Open Day Fair will be available for sale or loan for local farmers at the Department of Agriculture which is located at Prospect Industrial Site.
According to Evelyn, the Open Day Fair which started in 1995 has experienced tremendous success in the sensitization of the general public.
"We started this Open Day Fair because we wanted to do something because agriculture has been facing various challenges such as a growing lack of interest from the general public. Also we have an aging farming population, we have various pest problems and of course that includes monkeys, donkeys, sheep and goats and other small animals and so we wanted to inject some new life in agriculture in Nevis," Evelyn said.
He also said that the Department of Agriculture has seen drastic changes in that a number of young persons are now gravitating towards agriculture and that there has also been a marked increase in the involvement of commercial entities.
"We have seen a consistent improvement in the fresh products as well as agro-processed items that are processed by local farmers. We have also seen an improvement in the packaging and presentation of the products and we have had a greater general interest in terms of agriculture...
It is important for people to buy local products because we want the local farmers to be patronized. The Department of Agriculture is encouraging farmers to increase their production and therefore we would want to encourage members of the public to support the local producers. In short, local products are by far fresher, tastier and healthier," said Evelyn.~~adz:Right~~
