Project Name：Vegetable, Fruit and Upland Crop Quality and Safety Improvement Project (St. Kitts and Nevis)

Project status：Completed projects

Cooperating Country：Caribbean, St. Christopher (St. Kitts) and Nevis

Project Description：

Following the demise of the sugarcane industry and with the implementation of a land release policy, St. Kitts and Nevis has committed to strengthening the diversity of crops grown locally and to building an agricultural sector no longer reliant on sugar production. The sector has long been dominated by this single crop, and many farmers are unfamiliar with the characteristics and fertility of the soil on their land. Fertilizers, which are all imported, are expensive but not selective, and fertilization concepts and techniques are poorly understood. This has resulted in lower yields and unstable quality of local produce. Farmers also lack for concepts and technologies associated with the safe use of pesticides, and have no monitoring systems in place to confirm the safety of agricultural produce after it has been harvested but before it goes to market, which has led to a reluctance among tourist hotels and supermarket chains to purchase local produce. With as much as US$40 million of agricultural produce being imported annually to meet domestic demand, the government of St. Kitts and Nevis hopes to receive assistance from Taiwan to gradually improve the quality and yields of locally grown crops, which would thereby reduce foreign exchange expenditure.

Overall, the project will:

1. Assist in the establishment of pesticide residues detection and soil fertility analysis laboratories, assisting farmers to improve and ensure the quality and safety of agricultural produce.
2. Help farmers to improve fertilization and pest control capacity through training workshops, demonstration and guidance.
3. Increase farmers’ incomes by promoting the use of rapid pesticide residue detection techniques and thereby ensuring the quality and safety of cash crops.

Project No：TT-310-2014-015

Implementation Start Date：2014-03-14

Implementation End Date：2017-12-31

Project Objectives：Thirty percent of local fruits, vegetables and upland crops are screened by a pesticide residue rapid detection system prior to being put on the shelf, and an increase of 10 percent in the average crop yield per unit area of fruits, vegetables and upland crops, both of which lead to an increase of 10 percent in the local production value of fruits, vegetables and upland crops.

Executing Agency：Ministry of Agriculture (St. Kitts and Nevis)

Project Performance：1. Establish two pesticide residue rapid detection stations, and train two coordinating unit personnel to conduct implementation and management.
2. Establish two soil fertility service stations and two composting demonstration farms, and train two coordinating unit personnel to conduct implementation and management.
3. Improve farmers’ crop disease control, soil management, and fertilization techniques, and conduct 24 sessions of training workshops for 480 officials and farmers participating.