SVG to purchase 450 pounds of white potato seeds to begin local cultivation

St Vincent and the Grenadines: Minister of Agriculture, Saboto Caesar, on Sunday, announced that the ministry is all set to purchase 450-pound bags of white potato seeds to enable cultivating them in the country. This aligns with the government’s aim to cut down imports of white potatoes by promoting local cultivation.

The product which is used extensively in St Vincent and the Grenadines but there is no agriculture programme to cultivate these crops in the country.

Minister Caesar said that farmers have also been identified in certain agro-ecological zones across the country and that the Ministry along with the government conducted an extensive research to begin cultivation since the last six months. He announced that the programme will be rolled out by next month.

Once started, the development is anticipated to reduce the nation’s food import bill. The Minister outlined, “We have a quest to reduce the food import bill in St Vincent and the Grenadines and this has been ongoing and we are part of the CARICOM’s 25 by 25 project which aims to reduce the food import boll in each member state by 25% by 2025.” Minister Saboto Caesar also announced that the government wants to move rapidly on establishing the cultivation as the hotel sector expands and there will be higher demand for white potato.

In his statement, the Minister said that what he intends to do is quickly ramp up the production of white potatoes in St Vincent and the Grenadines and then to have the value addition where the country would make the fries and wedges.

He added that the government has recognised that there would be an exponential rise in the number of rooms that they will be having on the island during the next 6 months.

In addition to this, he also said that the ministry will be sending a team of farmers to Jamaica and Dominica as those nations have expansive land of production of white potatoes. Recently, the minister himself visited Jamaica and overlooked several farms.

He was able to witness the contribution that the local production of the product had been making to the economy following which he took this significant decision.