Banana and Agricultural Outputs on the Rise

Reports from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Cooperatives, Natural Resources and Physical Planning indicate that an increasing number of farmers are returning to the land. There has also been some indication that a number of young people are showing a keen interest in turning to agriculture.

Banana, which is still the major export crop in Saint Lucia, has seen the involvement of the Banana Productivity Improvement Project assisting in the rebounding of the industry.

According to the Project Manager for the Banana Productivity Improvement Project, Kerde Severin, 2017, the first year of the project, was a good year.

“We have moved from a pre project situation where we had 286 active farms to a situation now where we have 726 active farms. We have moved from a situation where we had 1127 acres dedicated to banana production, to 2232 acres. So in that short space of time we have almost doubled the number of acres, and increased the number of farms by over 150 percent,” he said.

According to Severin, a number of farmers have also come back and our now in the “system”. “Because if you have to sell to the European market you have to be registered as Global Gap Certified and therefore you need to be in the system,” he explained.

Last year, there was a slight decline in regional exports, mainly because of one of the largest source markets Trinidad & Tobago, importing from other markets, including Suriname. However, Saint Lucia has been able to secure new markets from the French territories of Martinique and Guadeloupe and exports to the UK increased to about 25 to 26 percent. Asked about the renewed interest and confidence by farmers, Mr. Kerde Severin believes that it has much to do with the Government’s stated policies and active interest in the industry.

“Government basically came out and enunciated a policy that helped to revitalize the banana industry and that in itself instilled confidence, in addition to that, a critical factor is the procurement of inputs, because a number of our farmers were unable to procure inputs, when they needed them and in the required quantities. That is why we place a lot of emphasis on procuring the critical inputs – we talk about fertilizer, as you know fertilizer is critical for a plant’s nutriments, then we say to control the black sigatoka we need to have the oil and de-fungicide,” Severin says.

The Ministry has also put in place a team specifically devoted to pest and disease management led by an agronomist. “They go out there and they monitor the diseases and then that data is fed back into a system and then using the technology that data is analyzed and based on the information we decide which area we are going to spray,” Severin explains.

Earlier this year, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Cooperatives, Natural Resources and Physical Planning Ezechiel Joseph expressed great optimism for the local agricultural sector.

Reviewing the performance of the local agricultural sector for 2017, Mr. Joseph spoke on the many strides which were made with regard to the increased levels of production and direct employment in the sector. This he added, resulted in an improvement in the economic and social wellbeing, particularly in the rural communities.

“In 2018, we shall see the operationalization of a new marketing entity with the focus on providing critical support needed to increase production of targeted crops; and more importantly, provide the marketing intelligence, infrastructure, and arrangements for the sale of these crops locally, regionally and internationally,” the Minister indicated.

“Government basically came out and enunciated a policy that helped to revitalize the banana industry and that in itself instilled confidence, in addition to that, a critical factor is the procurement of inputs, because a number of our farmers were unable to procure inputs, when they needed them and in the required quantities . . .”