By Admin. Updated 7:53 p.m., Friday, May 10, 2024, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).
White Potatoes are being successfully cultivated in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) based on initial results from the testing phase of a project to produce the commodity here.
Agriculture Minister Saboto Caesar shared the update with One News SVG along with photograph of the first yields from the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute- CARDI Agriculture Station at Rabacca.
The minister described it as a “happy moment”.
“No need for codfish to eat those, they come with a Soufriere aromatic salty flavour!” an ecstatic Caesar said.
The two varieties of white potatoes being grown here in the testing phase are the Desiree and the Spunta.
Meanwhile, SVG’s representative to CARDI – Mr. Donawa Jackson said the potato seeds from the currently harvested batch were planted on February 21, and one of the seeds has produced 18 tubers.
He told One News SVG that the potatoes take 13-15 weeks to mature.
The experienced agriculturalist said of the two varieties being tested in SVG, the Desiree, so far, appears to be the more viable one.
“We are doing a fertilizer evaluation. What we have seen so far from the preliminary data that we have gathered is that the Desiree seems to be the harder more resilient, and disease-resistant variety,” he said. “Its viability for germination is much higher, he added.
He said what is also of note is that despite the current dry and hot weather conditions, the potatoes have grown well.
He said at the end of the testing phase, CARDI will present its findings to the Ministry of Agriculture.
In January 2024, Minister Caesar announced that this country was moving ahead with plans to introduce the crop on a large scale. SVG was moving ahead with support from Dominica and Jamaica which grow the commodity successfully.
By February, zoning and testing had begun.
The project to introduce the cultivation of the white potatoes is part of CARICOM’s Mandate 25/25, which seeks to reduce the food import bill in the region by 25% by the year 2025.
According to the Agency for Public Information, SVG imports some five (5) million dollars worth of white potatoes, annually.
The three phases of the project include procurement of the varieties of white potatoes that are suitable for the tropical condition; the testing phase which involves choosing agro-ecological zones that are ideal for the cultivation and production of white potatoes; and the commercialization phase.
SVG is in Phase 2, the testing phase.
One News SVG 