Agriculture in St. Kitts Yields a 37.5 Percent Increase for 2019 Over 2018

Basseterre, St. Kitts, February 27, 2020 (SKNIS): Agriculture in St. Kitts and Nevis saw the highest output in yield ever in 2019, said Director of Department of Agriculture, Melvin James.

The Director said this during his presentation at The St. Kitts Marriott Resort where the Department of Agriculture held its Annual Review and Planning Meeting on February 25, 2020.

Mr. James said that the increase for 2019 “contrasts sharply with some of the earlier years and we did better by 496 metric tons. In other words, we had a total increase last year of 37.5 percent over 2018.”

He highlighted that that two main factors contribute to the increase in output: control of monkeys and government support.

“In 2019, we (Department of Agriculture) recommended a monkey control programme, although in a limited way, and we were able to take out some 800 and we think that assisted us significantly,” said Mr. James.

“The other area that we thought contributed has to do with the support that government gave to farmers for the hurricane damage and we think that in some ways, that money went into agriculture,” said the Director of Agriculture.

The increased output was recorded for a number of crops such as cantaloupes, carrots, cucumbers, onions, peanuts and sweet potatoes.