Published 7 December 2021
Basseterre
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
Click link below to find interviews on our YouTube channel.
FARMERS FIELD SCHOOL TRAINING UNDERWAY AT FAHIES OUTREACH CENTER
Several young farmers are currently participating in a 6-month Farmers Field School (FFS)
training program 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 which is being held at the Fahies Outreach
Center in Newton Ground, is a joint initiative between the FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Marine Resources.
This week the training focuses on lessons found in Agro Ecosystem Analysis (AESA). Since the
health of a plant is determined by its environment, this AESA process involves small groups of
participants collecting data from field studies, discussing the findings, and arriving at an
agreement for Integrated Pest Management (IPM) crop management while using the information
gathered as the basis for field management decisions.
In an interview with the Ministry of Agriculture’s Media and Communication Unit on Monday,
Crop Extension Officer in the Department of Agriculture who is responsible for District 3, Dion
Weekes said that the training will see the implementation of over 5000 root and tuber crops that
were recently procured by the government and distributed to local farmers who would then be
able to grow the crops at their own farms.
“We decided to put down a Farmer Field School Project with some of the materials that we
brought in; mainly Eddoes and Tannia which we had to do some mini sets and cut them up to plant
and so 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 the crop to their farm in a different area in the
district”, Weekes explained.
Meanwhile, Facilitator and Crop Extension Officer with responsibility for District 1, Lionel
Stevens gave his perspective on the training and explained how the Farmers Field School
contributes to the reduction of imported roots and tuber crops.
Stevens said, “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 more so
from the neighbouring islands. This Field School is an attempt to broaden farmer’s knowledge of
the production of these crops and it would be undertaken here at Fahies which 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. This is an area where we have the Outreach Center here as well, where we do trial
for different crops and is trials based on rain fed conditions knowing that the volume of rain that
this area receives.
Stevens also used the opportunity to invite other farmers to participate in the ongoing training.
“As it pertains to the Field School, 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. With our first experience with the Farmer’s Field School, the crop in question was
cabbages. We did quite a few Field Schools where we focused on cabbage production, so now
this is a shift in terms of using that same initiative but transferring the knowledge to different
crops. We just want to encourage farmers to come on and be part of it and acquire the knowledge
that is being offered”, he expressed.
The experiences that farmers gain from this interactive and participatory “learn by doing
approach” will give them the opportunity to increase yields, multiply their income and ultimately
improve their livelihoods.
