CARDI introduces yam farmers to new trellising techniques

Yam farmers in the central agricultural district are now being introduced to new techniques in trellising yams. Recently the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) hosted a demonstration workshop for these farmers on the farm of Earl Grant in an area called Crown in Layou valley.

The Division of Agriculture, in collaboration with CARDI, has established demonstration plots and satellite farms in the crop hub areas for yam, where training sessions will be conducted over an extended period.

Extension Officer, working with The Ministry of Agriculture, Kian Stephenson, gave some background into the training programme.

“Today would be one of the first of such events of the satellite plot which is bring farmers throughout the agriculture regions to one central area where they could see practises being done and management under the recommended techniques. Training today will be a method demonstration on the trellising of yams. This method will incorporate the use of less poles and wire. We have the issue of deforestation to consider as farmers go into the forest to collect posts or sticks and it is increasingly becoming a problem in terms of cost, availability and labour to actually go out and get those things and transport them to the farm,” he said.

Stephenson continued, “On the issue of the trellising demonstration, the method of trellising we will show today it will have several advantages including increased yield per acre as we will be showing how to use the ridge formation instead of individual mounds. It will have the advantage of less materials being used in terms of wood for posts. Farmers will have the opportunity to learn the right technique as some of them do practise it but has a stage or two wrongly done.”

The workshop for yam farmers highlighted the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) and European Union (EU)-funded regional project of which Dominica is a recipient of over US$200,000 to be utilized in the promotion of sweet potato, yam and cassava.

The main objective of the project is to contribute to the improvement of livelihoods along the root and tuber crop commodity chain.

Local CARDI representative, Sharon Jones, said that the project addresses marketing and production technologies and looks at systems across the value chain.

“This is a project that is implemented throughout the islands inclusive of Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Vincent, Dominica, Barbados and Haiti. What you are experiencing is a collaboration of the whole CARDI family working and assisting in Dominica. Information that comes out of the islands is shared so you are not only benefitting from the knowledge in Dominica, but the entire region. It is an interesting concept of ‘each one, teach one,’” she said.

The training program is expected to impart valuable information to farmers on how to be successful in yam production. Other training programmes include one on ‘mini setting’ or how to prepare planting material for yam cultivation and one on cassava plant material preparation.

Another important component of the project will be the introduction of new varieties of cassava and sweet potato into Dominica using tissue culture material.