RADA Establishes Vegetable Plant Nursery in Hanover

Agricultural production in Hanover is poised for growth, as the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) in that parish has established its own vegetable plant nursery.
According to the Hanover RADA parish manager, Bernard Goffe, the nursery was producing between 23,000 and 27,000 seedlings for farmers in the parish, but the demand has outgrown the production levels. As a result, a new high nursery was established on the grounds of the RADA office in that parish, to meet the demand.
“We established and constructed a state-of-the-art nursery on the compound, which would assist in boosting the amount of seedlings to meet the demand. This nursery that we have now can accommodate over 50,000 seedlings. Currently, we have approximately 49,000 seedlings in the nursery,” he said.
The Parish Manager pointed out that so far, the nursery has produced over 100,000 seedlings, and that over $195,000 worth of seedlings has been sold.
“It’s almost at break even cost, because when you have to put in all the inputs, such as potting mixture, planting material, the trays and other things, such as irrigation and labour, this is almost just to boost the production of vegetables in the parish,” he said.
He told JIS News that because of the demand, his office was focusing on the production of four main vegetable seedlings, namely Scotch Bonnet Pepper, Sweet Pepper, Tomato and Cabbage. He said that from time to time, requests would come in for crops, such as Lettuce and Pak Choi, which are produced, but on a small scale.
Mr. Goffe said that plans were in place to utilize the mini-set technology to produce Lucea yams, under the plant nursery conditions.
He pointed out that the establishment of the vegetable plant nursery would play a key role in the Domestic Food Crop Project being implemented in the parish, whereby participating farmers are assisted with planting material, fertilizer and land preparation, with a view to increasing their vegetable production.
He said that farmers not participating in that project could still get seedlings to purchase. There are approximately 4,000 registered farmers in the parish.
Mr. Goffe appealed to farmers in the parish to make sure that they are registered under the Farmers’ Registration Programme being carried out islandwide.