Friday, July 21, 2006

ROSEAU, Dominica: Prime Minister and Minister for Finance and Planning, Roosevelt Skerrit has outlined government achievements in the agricultural sector in Dominica for the last financial year 2005/2006. The Prime Minister outlined the many successes in his presentation of the 2006/2007 Budget last week.

In the 2005/2006 financial year, approximately $730,000 was spent on farm access road rehabilitation. Of this amount, $430,000 was spent on the rehabilitation of twelve farm access roads island wide, and $300,000 on a direct farm access road programme aimed at improving the access to individual farms. Over 300 farmers have benefited from these road improvements.

Skerrit also revealed that a contract has been awarded for the design and construction of three Inland Reception and Distribution centres at Marigot, Portsmouth and Fond Cole.

A contract has also been awarded for the construction of a Tissue Culture Weaning and Hardening Facility at Londonderry. This facility is designed to produce up to 50,000 banana tissue culture plants per cycle and is expected to be completed in a matter of weeks.

According to the Prime Minister, the Young Farmers’ Programme has provided support in the amount of $81,000 to several young persons to begin businesses in agriculture, ranging from vegetable and horticultural production, poultry and livestock production, sea moss cultivation, commercial wildlife farming, banana ripening and herbal products for medicinal purposes.

The Programme has also provided training to all project beneficiaries and interested young persons and has made $150,000 credit available through the National Development foundation to several young persons for additional projects.

Thirty-seven training activities were funded in the last financial year at a cost of $381,500. Training included: Vermi-composting; An Onion Study Tour; An Agro-Processing Study Tour, Training in Soil, Leaf and Food Analysis, A Plant Quarantine Capacity Building Workshop; Coffee Pruning and Livestock Management.

Also completed in the last financial year was the construction of a Molecular Laboratory at a cost of $160,000 to conduct research on the status of the amphibian population in Dominica. This facility is now fully functional in the amphibian research programme.

The second phase of the project will include the construction of a captive breeding facility for crapauds.

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