Taiwanese assist SVG farmers with pumpkin cultivation

Sixty farmers, students and extension officers now have a better understanding on how to improve their pumpkin cultivation.{{more}}

On 16th February, a workshop was held by the Region 3 office of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Taiwan Technical Mission at Orange Hill Farm. The workshop introduced farmers to the use of plastic film and compost to improve pumpkin cultivation.

Lenford Sampson, the Vice President of ‘Rabacca Farmer Fruit and Vegetable Organization’, gave a brief introduction on the chemical application for the prevention of fungus and insects. Conroy Huggins of Bishop’s College, who also attended the workshop, indicated he would use these techniques in the school garden.

Chief of the Taiwanese Mission, ChinYu LEE, said the Mission decided to hold a pumpkin workshop because of domestic demand in St. Vincent and the Mission’s field experiments.

The workshop introduced a better method of applying a two-side silver-black plastic film which can control weeds, save labour, expel insects by sun beam reflection, hold moisture in the soil and prevent fertilizer from being washed out by rain.

Using these methods, facilitators said, the farmers can harvest pumpkin three times a year, with an average amount of 120 lbs per plant.

Specialist of the Mission, Shen Chuan Su, demonstrated the pumpkin cultivation field works from land preparation, plastic film arrangement, plantlet preparation and plantation skills. He said the most important factor is to mix compost with the soil around the plant in order to release nutrition over a long period of time.

Any farmers interested in applying the abovementioned techniques are invited to contact the Taiwanese Mission for more details.