{"id":8387,"date":"2021-04-23T13:56:37","date_gmt":"2021-04-23T17:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/?p=8387"},"modified":"2021-04-23T13:57:08","modified_gmt":"2021-04-23T17:57:08","slug":"meet-the-farmer-atkinson-felix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/2021\/04\/23\/meet-the-farmer-atkinson-felix\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Farmer-Atkinson Felix"},"content":{"rendered":"

Atkinson Felix developed a love for agriculture through his involvement in the 4-H Movement at the St. Michael\u2019s Roman Catholic School ( St. Andrew). In his youthful days, Felix loved participating in the competitions, organized by this club and even recalls the days when his school won a number of them.<\/p>\n

Being an active member of the club, he was recognized for his outstanding performance as a 4-H\u2019er. He said that was the reason he continued with agriculture; a love that encouraged him to\u00a0 pursue a career in the field, which spanned for around thirty (30) years,\u00a0 providing technical support to Banana Farmers, as an Extension Officer .<\/p>\n

Following his retirement and\u00a0 having contributed to some of the developments in the Banana\u00a0 Industry, he took on farming full-time, providing different types of bananas to his markets, as well as planting material for farmers and friends.<\/p>\n

Ackie, as he is known in the village( Caruth) , grows a wide variety \u2013 \u00a0sweet potatoes, tomatoes, cabbages, carrots , beets, cauliflower , beans and others \u2013 \u00a0\u00a0but prefers plantains.\u00a0 For the last thirty-five (35) to forty (40) years he has been doing plantains, because of the demand for it.<\/p>\n

Ninety-five percent of what he produces on his\u00a0 six(6) acre plot is consumed by\u00a0 his\u00a0 family.<\/p>\n

He\u00a0 explained the Banana Leaf Spot Disease to be one of his major challenges and said that\u00a0 important agronomic practices such as field sanitation, fertilisation\u00a0 and weeding\u00a0 have helped.<\/p>\n

Another of the challenges for him was Praedial Larceny. \u201cAt one time , I almost gave up; someone made me a customer of theirs. Every week I was losing about 5-6 bunches of plantains. In two and a half months, that person stole 45 bunches of plantains,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Although\u00a0 he was disappointed by this occurrence,\u00a0 he\u00a0 continued with his plantain\u00a0 plot, because he\u00a0 likes farming. \u201cIf I had to do it all over again, I would and I encourage anyone to get into agriculture because of\u00a0 its dynamism.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a\u00a0 farming venture to be successful , Ackie says location,\u00a0 availability and access to land, helps. \u201cYou must pay attention to these attributes,\u201d he said. \u201cImagine if you have to\u00a0 walk with produce, it\u2019s hard or even if you\u2019re farming in the low-lands and you don\u2019t have irrigation \u2013 \u00a0simple things like these can be frustrating .\u201d<\/p>\n

He also suggests to young farmers to be educated about the type of crops they are selecting and do research on the market demands .\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Things to note about Atkinson \u201cAckie \u201c Felix:<\/p>\n