Taiwanese teach farmers production and marketing

Since the market demands and price of vegetables are increasing in the Saint Vincent and Grenadines, more and more farmers are willing to produce and sell these vegetables.{{more}}

Therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Taiwan Technical Mission (TTM) collaborated and held two workshops on April 20 and May 19 in Rose Hall to educate farmers how to effectively produce vegetables and how to sell them efficiently. More than 30 farmers, agricultural officers, and TTM experts attended these workshops.

Dan Richards and Renford Byam, the supervisor and extension officers of the Ministry of Agriculture in Region One, presented several recommended practices to plant tomatoes, sweet peppers, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and lettuce during the two workshops. These practices include: varietal selection, seedling germination, land preparation, spacing, planting, weed control, fertilizer application, and pest management.

Carlos Lai, the agricultural experts from TTM, introduced farmers to cooperative production and marketing their produce. He suggested that members of any farmers’ organization should trust each other and should take the production schedule relay, joint transportation, and quality farming into consideration for better economic feedback. He also stressed that effective farmers’ organizations could increase efficiency in terms of producing and marketing.

The Ministry of Agriculture and TTM will continue to have vegetable production workshops focusing on the importation substitute. Farmers who are interested in planting vegetables should contact the extension officers Dan Richards, Renford Byam or the Taiwanese Technical Mission for detailed information.