by Eulana Weekes
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): Minister of Agriculture in the Nevis Island Administration, Hon. Eric Evelyn, was engaged in a tour day on Friday, July 14, by visiting the piggery and goat production units and several farms and greenhouses around the island.
Greenhouse technology has served as a breakthrough in agriculture production technology, and several farmers on the island have adopted that mechanism. According to the Minister of Agriculture, Nevis is leading in the region in greenhouse production.
“We are leading in the Federation and in the region where greenhouses are concerned, and from what we are seeing, it will only get better. The production will only increase, the quality will increase, the production, the quantity will increase, and I must say kudos to our greenhouse farmers here on the island of Nevis. I am very, very pleased, and we can only get better.”
Minister Evelyn expressed his delight in the high level of fruit and vegetable production on the island, lauding some of the farmers for their contributions to food security.
“We [did] a short visit to Mike’s Farm at New River. [I’m] very impressed with what Mike is doing in terms of his fruit production, his vegetable production and then we [went] to the greenhouse production. We made a stop up at Mackie A-1’s Farm, and of course, that has always been one of the top-notched greenhouse production areas on the island of Nevis. Mackie continues to improve with excellent production, excellent management techniques, great quality products, and it just continues to get better and better every time we visit Mackie.”
After we left Mackie, we [went] to our greenhouses at Prospect. Of course, I am very pleased with what is happening there as well. We are now here, still in the Prospect area at Richard’s Farm. A lot of persons would know about the exploits of Mr Richard Parris, his leafy greens in the supermarkets here in Nevis as well as in St. Kitts and the demand that it has been. I must say I have been very, very impressed with what is happening here on the island of Nevis with regards to greenhouse production,” Evelyn shared.
Evelyn said the Department of Agriculture seeks to improve the quality and quantity of meat production and the management of its units. He also stated that efforts are being made to achieve zero grazing for small ruminants on the island.
Premier of Nevis Mark Brantley, in a social media post, said that “food security is a goal of the NIA to make Nevis more sustainable.” The Premier admonished residents to “eat what we grow and grow what we eat.” Brantley said the Minister of Agriculture and his team should be celebrated “for their continued revolution in Agriculture” on the island of Nevis.
