Ministry of Agriculture– The Ministry of Agriculture will be placing emphasis on Soursop, Nutmeg and Cocoa during the 2019 Plant Distribution season, which will officially commence from Thursday July 25th, 2019.
Anticipating a successful distribution drive in 2019, Alison Haynes Agronomist, with responsibility for managing the Mirabeau Plant Distribution center says that although the three crops have been given priority, other crops would also be available for sale during the drive.
“Our focus is really on Nutmeg, Soursop and Cocoa but we have a wide array of other economic plants, things like Guava, Cherry, Avocado and Passionfruit that we produce each year and distribute to farmers.”
The Plant distribution season is one of the annual initiatives by the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands to support both commercial and small scale farmers.
“The Ministry of Agriculture produces about 20,000 each year and distributes these plans to just over 1000 farmers, “she added.
Plants sold during the exercise are produced at the four different propagation stations located at Mirabeau and Boulogne in St. Andrew, Ashenden in St. David and Maran, St. John.
The Ministry through the plant distribution exercise encourages farmers to reestablish fields and increase production of crops.
The plant distribution season runs from July – December. It is however dependent on the demands and the amount of rainfall, Haynes furthered.
Explaining the process the Agronomist said,” we normally have an application for which you must complete a year in advance,
sometime August or September of the previous year, stating the quantity of plants needed for the following year.
When the season is open we would call the farmers to let them know the date and time to pick up their orders.”
The plant distribution drive will occur at different distribution points across the island from July 25th.
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