Farmers attend Workshop on Crop Quality Improvement

(ZIZ News) — Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Republic of China – Taiwan met with local farmers on Wednesday in the latest in a series of sessions on a project to boost the quality of vegetable, fruits and upland crops.

This week’s sessions aimed to inform farmers about how they can benefit from this project.

The overall initiative focuses on three areas: soil fertility analysis, pesticide residue detection and compost making.

During the opening ceremony Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Alistair Edwards described these areas as relevant to agricultural development, particularly soil analysis.

He said, “Soil sampling, another area that we’re interested in. We realize that farmers can produce despite the conditions. But it is critical for us to understand what exactly is in the soil. Are we adding too much of what is there already? Is it lacking something that we’re not putting in? Can crops produce better if we add this fertilizer?”

Project Manager, Fernando Yeh said their main goal is to help the farmers increase revenue.

“This session is to update everyone on the service we provide. The only objective we have is to help farmers make more money. That is the only objective. If you make more money we win. If you make more money, we all win,” Yeh stated.

In addition to the training of technicians and farmers, the project includes construction of several facilities.

These will include soil fertility analysis and pesticide residue detection laboratories as well as a compost demonstration site.