Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 5, 2021 — Several young farmers are currently participating in a 6-month Farmers Field School (FFS) training programme which offers farmers a platform to exchange knowledge and perform practical experiments, allowing them to develop their cultivation skills. The agricultural crop production training initiative is being held at the Fahies Outreach Center in Newton Ground as a joint initiative between the FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Marine Resources.
This week the training focuses on Agro Ecosystem Analysis (AESA). Crop Extension Officer Dion Weekes said the training will see the implementation of over 5,000 root and tuber crops recently procured by the government and distributed to local farmers. “We decided to put down a Farmer Field School Project with some of the materials that we brought in; mainly Eddoes and Tannia. We selected certain young farmers who haven’t been involved in the crop before and decided to take the Field School to give them an experience of producing the crop and at the end they would be able to reap the crop and carry it to their farm,” Weekes explained.
Facilitator and Crop Extension Officer Lionel Stevens gave his perspective: “It is a project that the Department has undertaken to try and increase our production of these root tubers, seeing that we import them heavily on a weekly basis from neighbouring islands. This Field School is an attempt to broaden farmers’ knowledge of the production of these crops. This is an area where we receive quite a good volume of rainfall so it’s kind of ideal to aid in the production of these root tubers.”
Stevens also invited other farmers to participate: “We want to encourage young farmers in the area, farmers who are experienced or also farmers who want to gain further knowledge in this particular area of production. We just want to encourage farmers to come on and be part of it and acquire the knowledge that is being offered.” The experiences that farmers gain from this interactive “learn by doing approach” will give them the opportunity to increase yields, multiply their income and ultimately improve their livelihoods.