Ferti-Irrigation Systems Installed at Cades Bay Agricultural Station by Brent Simon

The ongoing rehabilitation efforts at Cades Bay have reached another significant milestone with the installation of ferti-irrigation systems. This crucial upgrade will enhance the efficiency of crop cultivation by enabling direct injection of fertilizers into the irrigation system.

Mr. Bradbury Browne, the Irrigation Specialist overseeing the project, made emphasis on the importance of this installation. “We are at a significant point in the project. We are now able to inject the fertilizer directly into the system, which will definitely make the growing process more efficient.

Mr. Craig Thomas of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) also expressed his satisfaction with the projects progress. He noted, “We can now focus more on the planting aspect of the project which is what will give us the root stock of the rebirthed Antigua Black.”

The rehabilitation of the Pineapple crop at the Cades Bay station, continues to make a great impact on the future increase of readily available planting materials for local producers, which is the main objective of this phase of the project. For the first time at the station, a fertilizer system was installed, aiding the administering of soluble fertilizers to the plants and eliminating antiquated methods of fertilizer application.

The project continues to highlight modern innovative technologies that local producers can adapt to support the overall agricultural sector, not only for pineapple but for other commodities. Several activities are planned for 2025, including the transplanting of another 5,000 plantlets in April and another 1,000 in June. Additionally, with financial support from the Antigua and Barbuda government, plans are in place to ship 50 Antigua Black Pineapple suckers to the tissue culture lab in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in March. This will result in the multiplication of 20,000 tissue culture plantlets, expected to return to Antigua before the end of 2025. These suckers will be sourced from several local Antigua Black Pineapple producers who will directly benefit from this phase of the project.

Since the start of the project, over 4,000 Antigua Black Pineapples have been planted at the Cades Bay Station. The Ministry of Agriculture is partnering with IICA, which is coordinating the activities under the project also collaborating on this project locally are CARDI and FAO.