Calibishie farmer harvests banana from tissue culture plantlets

DOMINICA:  Commercial banana farmer, Deles Warrington of Calibishie invited the Ministry of Agriculture to his farm on Saturday April 9^th for the harvesting of his tissue culture plants which he received in July last year.
Warrington was in the process of packaging over one hundred boxes of bananas which will be exported to Antigua this week.
The commercial farmer received over two thousand tissue culture plantlets from the Ministry of Agriculture in two stages last year.
He says so far he has exported over 700 boxes of bananas to Antigua.
Warrington says with the change in weather forecast his production should increase.
“The weather is better around this time of year because you get both rain and sun. With this weather not only the banana trees will flourish but other crops such as plantain and ground provision.”
In April 2015, the Ministry of Agriculture under the Banana Accompanying Measures (BAM) imported 20,000 plantlets from France for distribution to farmers.
Before distribution, the plantlets went through a process of weaning and hardening.
This procedure involves nursing the plantlets to prepare for final transplanting onto beds.
The process took place at the smart green house at the One Mile Agricultural Station in Portsmouth.
In July, farmers from Castle Bruce and Calibishie received plantlets.
“I must say that I am happy to be here on the farm of Deles Warrington to witness the harvesting of bananas in the traditional way as we knew it before,” Hon Drigo revealed. “There were so many people who doubted the success of these plantlets that we brought in. Today we are here and we are looking at the size of the bunches, we are looking at the quality of the fruits and most importantly we are harvesting and seeing the control of Black Sigatoka diseases in this farm.”
The Minister expressed satisfaction with Warrington’s willingness to invest his own resources into the development of his farm.
He encouraged farmers to assist themselves in the growth of their farms.
Parliamentary Representative for the Paix-Bouche Constituency, Roslyn Paul, describes Warrington as a serious commercial banana farmer, passionate about his work.
“He is one of the persons who is able to manage the Black Sigatoka disease very effectively. I also know some farmers in Calibishie who have been successful and I would say Calibishie is the hub for agriculture. We are elated that Government has invested resources into the restoration of the banana industry and new emerging industries like white potatoes.”