The Department of Agriculture to Implement Climate Smart Agricultural Practices

Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 06, 2019 (SKNIS): The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis in attempts to further realise its goals of sustainable development, is slated to implement a more climate-smart approach in its agricultural practices.

This was stated by the Caribbean Agricultural Research Development Institute (CARDI) representative, Kistian Flemming, during the official launch of the Raising Athletes Independence through Sustainable Enhancement (R.A.I.S.E.) Hydroponic Project on December 05, 2019.

Mr. Flemming highlighted that due to the variability in climate change, and the fact that “we have an unfamiliar climate … we have an urgent agenda to increase resilience in the agricultural sector.”

The CARDI representative also noted that the sustainability of the agricultural sector and the “future of food security, demands … an unprecedented adaptation action.”

One of the main threats towards this sustainability, he says, is that of erosion. He announced that “sixty-eight percent of [farmers] experience erosion risk” in St. Kitts and Nevis.

However, the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has not faltered in its steps towards furthering its achievements in sustainable development.

As such, the Government is slated to implement Project R.A.I.S.E. to overcome some of the threats towards sustainability in the agricultural sector.

Project R.A.I.S.E. is a Hydroponic Project which features a forty-feet shipping container with a “fully protected agricultural controlled environment with the objective of ensuring consistent production annually and gaining market trust,” says Mr. Flemming

This project he says is “potentially seventy percent more efficient than conventional systems.”

Mr. Flemming also highlighted the ways in which it was going to be more efficient saying that “it is easily scalable and transferable,  and it is a pathway for increasing agricultural awareness.”

He ended by saying that one of the major advantages of this project, is that “there is no need for pesticides.”