Project Name：Banana Productivity Improvement Project in St. Lucia

Project status：Completed projects

Cooperating Country：Caribbean, St. Lucia

Project Description：

The banana industry in St. Lucia was devastated by tropical storm Matthew in September, 2016. Thus, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Production, Fisheries and Rural Development in St. Lucia requested technical assistance to help increase farmers’ productivity revitalize and revitalize the banana industry, in view of creating job opportunities and improving farmers’ revenue. The average banana production in St. Lucia is 12.5 tons/hectare, which is lower than the international standard 25 tons/hectare. There are multiple reasons for the low banana productivity in St. Lucia. Factors such as the impacts of natural disasters, natural environment and international trade conditions are excluded in this project, which will instead use technical to help improve production. The main components of the project include: (1) Improve the infrastructure of banana cultivation; (2) Promote dwarf variety of banana; (3) Improve cultivation management skills.

To watch the video made by the TaiwanICDF:
Banana Productivity Improvement Project in St. Lucia

Region：Caribbean

Implementation Start Date：2018-03-01

Implementation End Date：2021-12-31

Project Objectives：Increase banana production to 15 tons/ hectare.

Executing Agency：

Taiwan Techical Mission in Saint Lucia / Ministry of Agriculture, Food Production, Fisheries and Rural Development (St. Lucia) 

Current Progress：

To the end of September 2021, the following activities have been completed:
1. Held 3,600 times farmers consultation field cultivation.
2. Held 1,131 times farmers field lectures.
3. Held soil fertility analysis, and completed 430 times of soil sampling.
4. Counselled 420 cases of traceability cultivation, packaging and post-harvest processing to pass Global GAP certification.
5. Completed 10 areas of drainage engineering.
6. Completed constructing of 8 banana dwarf varieties and precision irrigation demonstration fields, and held 6 workshops for banana dwarf varieties promotion.
7. Completed 10 areas of precision irrigation pipeline settings.

Project Contact：Yi-Chun Liu

Phone：+886-2-28732323 ext. 211

E-mail：yc.liu@icdf.org.tw

Projected Benefits：1.Improve the infrastructure of banana cultivation
(1)Conducting dredging and drainage in 30 banana farms
(2)Establishing 1 demonstrative irrigation system
2.Promote dwarf variety of banana
(1)Introducing 3 dwarf varieties of banana
(2)Conducting 2 demonstrative and promoting events
3.Improve cultivation management skills
(1)Conducting 500 soil analysis in banana farms
(2)Providing 5,000 person-times in technical advisory services, including 12 workshops and 4,000 person-times field technical advisory services

Mission：Taiwan Techical Mission in Saint Lucia