Agri. Ministry donates to Buxton farmers’ group

Some of the items that were donated to the group

He also said that a number of drainage and irrigation works were done and are still ongoing to ensure infrastructure is in place to minimize flooding and provide sufficient irrigation.

Chairman of the group, Leroy Hamer said that the tools will be used to assist young farmers as the group is now working to promote intercropping.

“We’ve now focusing on young people and these tools will help them because even though they are farming they have to get tools. These tools will contribute to that and help us to develop ourselves. Because we are doing long-term and short-term crops, these tools will really help,” he noted.

He further stated that farmers in the village benefited from training on best practices for coconut cultivation from the ministry’s National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) in collaboration with the Caribbean Agriculture Research and Development Institute (CARDI). As a result, the group is now looking to expand its farming practices to include coconut cultivation.

Minister Mustapha also committed to assisting the group with planting materials to commence and develop their coconut cultivation.

The items included fertilizers, a mechanical tiller, forks, rakes, garden hoes, shovels, cutlasses, and files. The group comprises approximately 60 farmers, 30 of whom are young people. (Ministry of Agriculture press release)