Things are looking up for the pineapple and coconut subsectors according to reports from the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Harold Guiste.
Guiste stated that the agriculture sector in Dominica is undergoing a transition from a mono-crop economy to a more diversified approach.
At a Farmers Forum in October 2015, officials of the Ministry of Agriculture revealed that more investments would be made in other crops in addition to bananas.
Under the Banana Accompanying Measures (BAM) Programme, a large investment has been made in pineapples.
Due to efforts by the Nature Island Pineapple Producers Association, NIPPA, the Ministry of Agriculture purchased over 40,000 tissue culture pineapple plantlets.
These are being weaned and hardened at the smart greenhouse in Portsmouth and then distributed to NIPPA members.
“We’re going to have a lot of pineapples,” Guiste enthused.
The Permanent Secretary revealed that NIPPA is already exploring marketing options for pineapples. He presented several production ideas for the crop.
“We’re talking with a French company who wants to do pineapple juice and sparkling pineapple wine which are both very promising. So there is a lot happening in the agriculture sector.”
Meantime, Guiste acknowledges that coconut production is not yet at the desired level but the Ministry is optimistic.
With the closure of Dominica Coconut Products Factory, farmers are having difficulty selling copra, however the coconut water business is growing.
“The coconut trees which we have for oil at the moment are tall and old, they have been there for years. There is a programme on the way to rehabilitate them. CARDI is working on the industry rehabilitation. There is also a Caribbean programme funded by the European Union for expansion of the coconut industry in the region.”
Currently the coconut industry in the region is not doing its best and this requires urgent attention.
“We are paying attention to coconut in a bigger way this time and the approach is to use the whole nut and tree. With this new thrust for coconuts, we are looking at virgin coconut oil, traditional coconut oil, animal feed, charcoal making, mats, lumber and other things.”
