PINGCO set up for pineapple farmers

A Pineapple Co-operative has been formed to help farmers boost pineapple production and market their produce in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.{{more}}

The first meeting of the Co-operative, which was set up with the assistance of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Taiwan Technical Mission (TTM), was held on December 1, 2009. At this meeting, five committee members were elected.

On January 12, a committee meeting was held at the Region 1 office in Wallialabou to decide on the laws, obligations, and benefits of the Co-operative. The meeting was attended by 4 committee members, 2 agricultural officials and 3 experts from the TTM.

During the meeting, the Co-operative was named the “Pineapple Growth Co-operative” (PINGCO). The chief of TTM Chin-Yu Lee also shared valuable experiences regarding the collection and grading packaging of pineapples as well as the effective use of manure. The senior expert Carlos Lai believes that PINGCO is ready to start operating their business.

The next committee meeting will be held on February 9. Farmers who are interested in joining PINGCO can contact the agricultural officials Dan Richards and Mr. Byam.