RESEARCH and DEVELOPMENT HIGHLIGHTS GRENADA. Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute STAFF MEMBERS CARDI

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2 6. 0 Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute STAFF MEMBERS The hard working staff of the unit who continue to make their sterling contributions are presented below in Plate 12. CARDI RESEARCH and DEVELOPMENT HIGHLIGHTS 2008 Plate 12: CARDI Staff 2008 Left to Right: Raphael St. Bernard, General Worker Bertilda Charles Reginald Andall - CARDI Representative/Agronomist Wilma Calliste - General Worker Joanne Charles Ann Nelson Janeille Charles - Administrative Assistant Reuben Raymond - Technical Assistant Doris Frank - General Worker Keith Charles 16 GRENADA CARDI, P. O. Box 270, St. George s, Grenada 1

3 CONTENTS Page 1.0 Acknowledgements Review and Update of the Agricultural and Rural sectors Achievements in the 2008 Work Programme Development of sustainable industries New way of enhancing hot pepper productivity tested Supporting Food Security and Commercial Production Assisting to develop a sustainable papaya industry in Grenada Development of strategic linkages: Advocacy Organise and participate in national, regional and international shows, including World Food Day and the CARDI Open Day Resource mobilisation Raising revenues through the production and sale of vegetables, fruits and seedlings 14 Staff members Plate 10: Vegetable seedlings awaiting distribution LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Distribution of crop planting material, Plate 11: Farmer with seedlings produced by CARDI LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Incidence of bunchy top on Barbados Yellow papaya plants after planting

4 The final aspect of the open day was a guided tour of the Field Station, which enabled stakeholders to view first hand some of the field work that was undertaken. The highlight of the tour was the research/demonstration plot of dwarfing tall golden apples, Plate 9. This was the first time that many of these stakeholders saw low growing golden apple trees which were bearing large fruits. They were accustomed to seeing small trees bearing small fruits or large trees bearing large fruits. Plate 9: CARDI Representative, Reginald Andall discusses the methodology of dwarfing tall golden apple 5.0 RESOURCE MOBILISATION 5.1 Raising revenues through the production and sale of vegetables, fruits and seedlings LIST OF PLATES Page Plate 1: GSR Calcium Trial 6 Plate 2: Dwarf golden apple germplasm 8 Plate 3: Julie Mango germplasm 8 Plate 4: Cassava (Mcol 1468) germplasm 9 Plate 5: Barbados yellow papaya infected with bunchy top 11 Plate 6: Display of simple biogas digester 12 Plate 7: Participants inquiring about biogas digester 13 Plate 8: Farmers receiving certificates 13 Plate 9: CARDI Representative, Reginald Andall discusses the methodology of dwarfing tall golden apple 14 Plate 10: Vegetable seedlings awaiting distribution 15 Plate 11: Farmer with seedlings produced by CARDI 15 Plate 12: CARDI Staff In recent years, as CARDI s core funds has stagnated and donor funds dwindled, mobilisation of financial resources from its field station and experimental activities, has become very important as the institute tries to cope with rising costs. During 2008, over 314, 000 vegetable seedlings were produced and distributed to farmers, householders and gardeners, Plates 10 and 11. Approximately $72,000.00EC in gross revenue was collected from the sale of seedlings, vegetables and fruits from the field station. The most popular vegetable seedlings distributed were tomato, lettuce, cabbage, salad and seasoning pepper. 14 3

5 1.0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The staff of CARDI Grenada expresses their sincere thanks to the Government of Grenada for their unwavering financial support throughout the year, without which the operations of CARDI would not be possible. Sincere thanks also to the Minister, Permanent Secretary and staff of the Ministry of Agriculture for their continued support. To all the other stakeholders, for example, IICA, MNIB, farmers, and home gardeners we say thank you for making our year the success that it was. Finally thanks to the media houses especially, the Grenada Broadcasting Network for their valued promotion of CARDI s work. 2.0 REVIEW AND UPDATE OF THE AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL SECTORS During the year, the importance of the agricultural sector as a major contributor to food security was once again emphasized as the prices of imported food items continued to rise. Additionally, the prices of locally produced food also rose as fuel prices and other inputs like fertilizer rose dramatically. The Marketing and National Importing Board (MNIB) trades an estimated 80% of the national production of fruits and vegetables and therefore their purchases are used as a general guide of the welfare of that sub-sector. For the year 2008, the MNIB purchased 2.3 million pounds of produce. This was a 10% reduction from that purchased in There was also a corresponding 16% decrease in the value of the purchases. This reduction in trade was due to the constriction of the national economy as a result of the global financial crisis. Plate 7: Participants inquiring about biogas digester CARDI also hosted its first Annual Open Day in Grenada. The CARDI Unit put on a very a successful Open Day, which was highly praised by participants. Forty-eight participants comprising of farmers, Ministry of Agriculture Officials, input suppliers and other stakeholders attended. The Honourable Denis Lett, Minister of Agriculture, gave the feature address, which highlighted the new Government s initiatives in Agriculture and CARDI s role in increasing productivity in the agricultural sector A feature of the Open Day was the presentation of Certificates of Appreciation to farmers who collaborated with CARDI over the past 2 years (Plate 8). For example, the tourism sector which provides an important marketing link to the agricultural sector especially for fruits and vegetables also experienced a decline as tourist arrivals dropped during the year. The result therefore was a negative impact on the marketing of fruits and vegetables as hoteliers purchased less produce. In the nutmeg industry, which is the major agricultural sub-sector, some 698,000lbs were purchased from farmers by the Grenada Co-operative Nutmeg Association (GCNA) the sole purchaser of nutmegs. This was 16% more than that purchased in the previous year. On the other hand in the case of exports, there was a 63% drop in the quantity exported in 2008 as compared to The drop in exports was primarily due to less nutmegs being available as old stocks from previous years were totally used up. 4 Plate 8: Farmers receiving certificates 13

6 4.0 DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGIC LINKAGES: ADVOCACY 4.1 Organise and participate in national, regional and international shows, including World Food Day and the CARDI Open Day Agricultural exhibitions are a popular forum to showcase CARDI s activities and achievements. In 2008 CARDI participated in the World Food Day exhibition which is the most popular agricultural exhibition to be staged in Grenada.. At the exhibition, a prototype of a simple, low cost biogas digester (Plate 6) was placed on display, as a means of satisfying the bio-energy aspects of the theme entitled World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy. Much interest (Plate 7) was shown by participants in the biogas digester as a low cost means of coping with today s high energy bills. The display was highlighted by the news media. As a result therefore the nutmeg industry experienced a 38% reduction in export earnings from $8.9 million in 2007 to $5.5 million in CARDI, the only agency involved in applied agricultural field research in Grenada, continued to soldier on with its limited financial and human resources. Its financial subvention from the Government of Grenada remained constant as did its human resource. 3.0 ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE 2008 WORK PROGRAMME 3.1 DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE INDUSTRIES CROPS: New Way of Enhancing Hot Pepper Productivity Tested Background: Plate 6: Display of simple biogas digester One of the most limiting factors to the production of hot peppers in Grenada is the incidence of the stem borer, (Faustinus cubae Boheman). Control of this pest using conventional insecticides has been challenging especially during the bearing stage of the crop when the use of systemic insecticides will result in high levels of pesticide residues. The use of these chemicals has therefore been limited to the non-bearing stage of the crop. The availability of a new product GSR (Genesis Soil Rite) Calcium is an innovation that has great prospects to help manage stem borer effectively and without any possibility of pesticide residues. This product is advertised as containing an electronically adjusted form of calcium that is easily available in the soil thus adjusting soil ph to optimum levels for crop growth. It is also readily taken up by the plant and thereby enhances crop growth so that the plant photosynthesizes optimally and brings the sugar content of the plant sap to a high level which is deleterious to any insect or fungus which feeds on the plant thus obtaining insect and disease control. The effectiveness of GSR Calcium on hot pepper yield, stem borer control and improvement of soil ph, was tested when a field trial (Plate 1) using three levels of GSR Calcium was conducted at the CARDI Field Station. 12 5

7 Results: The application of GSR Calcium did not induce any significant change in yield, nor did it reduce the incidence of stem borer. There was also no significant change in soil ph. The experiment therefore needs to be repeated before firm recommendations can be made. Plate 5: Barbados yellow papaya infected with bunchy top. Plate 1: GSR Calcium Trial Supporting Food Security and Commercial Production Background: Over the years CARDI has accumulated a number of crop species from both local and foreign sources. This germplasm is maintained at the CARDI Field Station (Plates 2, 3 and 4) and is used to support commercial agricultural production and food security efforts through the provision of planting material in the form of seeds, stem cuttings and scion material to the Ministry of Agriculture, farmers, home gardeners, propagators and agribusiness personnel. 6 11

8 3.1.3 Assisting to develop a sustainable papaya industry in Grenada Background: Bunchy top is the major disease of papaya in Grenada. The disease is spread by an insect vector, the sap sucking leaf hopper Empoasca papayae Oman. Disease control has been through the regular application of various insecticides. Farmers have claimed that the recently introduced Taiwanese variety, Red Lady, has some degree of tolerance to the disease. An experiment was therefore conducted to investigate this claim. The first part of the experiment however was to verify the susceptibility of a local variety, Barbados yellow, to the disease. Later, the tolerance of the Red Lady variety will be compared to the susceptibility of the local variety. Results: The local type was indeed susceptible to bunchy top disease, Plate 5. The incidence of the disease became evident from as early as 52 days (1.7 months) after planting when 29% of the plants showed signs of the disease (Figure 1). The percentage of plants affected continued to rise slowly. The rate of infection became more rapid from 196 days (6.5 months) after planting. At 413 days after planting 70% of the plants became infected. The proven susceptibility of the local type has effectively set the stage for the next phase of the experiment in which the suggested tolerance of the Red Lady papaya will be measured against the susceptibility of the local type. Percentage infected Days after planting % Infested Figure 1: Incidence of bunchy top on Barbados yellow papaya plants after planting Results: The distribution of planting material for 2008 is summarized in Table 1. The main highlights of the distribution were the supply of dwarf golden apple germplasm (approximately 62,000 plants) to the Trinidad and Tobago Agribusiness Association to assist them to develop a golden apple juice industry and Julie mango scion to a local private entrepreneur to help establish a commercial plot. Table 1: Distribution of crop planting material, 2008 Crop Scientific name Quantities distributed Sapodilla Achras zapota L. Seed -150g Scion Dwarf Golden Apple Spondias cytherea Sonn. Seed lbs (About 62, 000 plants) Recipients Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) Trinidad & Tobago Agribusiness Association MOA Cashew Nut Anacardium occidentale L. Seeds - 50 Mango- Julie Mangifera indica L. Scion Private Entrepreneur Fig Ficus carica L. Cuttings - 40 MOA West Indian Cherry Passion fruit Malphigia glabra L. Scion - 75 MOA Passiflora edulis var flavicarpa Sims Cuttings 600 Seedlings MOA Corn Zea mays L. Seeds 13.5 lbs Farmers (10) Pigeon pea Cajanus cajan L. Seeds 10 lbs Farmers (8) Sorrel Hibiscus sabdariffa L. Seeds 5 lbs Farmers (8) Cassava Manihot esculenta L. Cuttings 1000 Farmer (1) Sweet potato Ipomaea batatas (L.) Lam. Cuttings 2155 Gardeners (15) 10 7

9 Plate 2: Dwarf golden apple germplasm Plate 4: Cassava (Mcol 1468) germplasm Plate 3: Julie Mango germplasm 8 9