| With the planting season continuing in Anguilla, personnel from the Department of Agriculture, and the Farmers’ Association, have come together to demonstrate their mechanized farming and soil preparation techniques. |
Chairman of the Farmers’ Association, Elvet Hughes, said that a number of farmers were not too aware of the different operations of the tractors owned by the two organisations and available to members of the public. He stated that some months ago he had spoken to Director of Agriculture, William Vanterpool, about putting on a demonstration of the equipment. This included ripping, ploughing, rotovating, banking and mulch-laying so that when farmers turn up to book the plough they know exactly what type of service they want. Both Mr. Hughes and Mr. Vanterpool stressed that there was a need for farmers to have their land ploughed more than once, and perhaps up to three times, to break up the lumps and then to bank it. “You may be aware that one of the tractors used by the Department of Agriculture belongs to the Farmers Association, paid for by a grant by the Department for International Development,” Mr. Hughes told the media. “The mulch-layer is one of the pieces of equipment we have as well. We also have a soil-testing kit so that farmers can test their soil and determine what they need to add to it to make it more fertile.” He complained that a lot of farmers were not attending the meetings organised for them and were therefore unaware of what could be done.
“Quite a few farmers stay away, and perhaps criticise, but we want them to come and give their ideas rather than stay awayand say what is not being done,” Mr. Hughes went on.“If we work together, we can do a lot of agriculture here in Anguilla.” He also said that, among other supplies, the Farmers’ Association was importing fertiliser and insecticide to sell at a reduced price to members. Meanwhile, Mr. Vanterpool reported that a number offarmers were shown some elements of basicploughing operations. This was followed by the refining of the soil, preparation of beds and the laying of the ground cover and irrigation lines using other machinery.
The latest meeting of farmers, some of them womenfolk, was held late last week in The Valley Bottom on plots of land leased to several planters in the community. Those in attendance found the demonstrations of much interest and indicated their intention to try the mechanised methods of farming with the assistance of the Department of Agriculture and the Farmers’ Association. |
