Pioneering the commercial cultivation of carrots and onions in Trinidad, Caribbean Chemicals says that it would be open to doing the same here.
“We’d be open to that depending on the circumstances,” said Martin Lopez, the Agriculture Manager at the company’s local operations. “We have been part and parcel of the whole agriculture thrust,” he noted.
Caribbean Chemicals is leading the way in commercially producing carrots and onions in Trinidad. The first-ever commercially viable onion crop in Trinidad and Tobago was harvested at the end of February at the Tucker Valley Farm, Chaguaramas, in a pilot project run by the Ministry of Food Production and Caribbean Chemicals Ltd, media in the island reported in March. Approximately 30,000 plants in three varieties were seeded in November, transplanted in December, and were ripe for picking 90 days later, the Trinidad Express reported.
Trinidad’s Food Production Minister Vasant Bharath was quoted as saying that onion is one of four crops they want to focus on as a staple in the local diet—along with carrots, potatoes and peanuts. These produce account for TT$500 spent over the last five years on importing them. Joe Pires, the managing director of Caribbean Chemicals said that the project will help reduce the food import bill and save foreign exchange.
He said that it was the first time onions were grown in Trinidad on a commercial scale, despite research being conducted in the 1960s and 1970s on the viability of the crop—and even though other Caribbean islands had previously used the same research to implement their own sustainable onion production.
He said restaurants were already on board to purchase the entire crop because the flavour of a fresh onion, as opposed to one in storage for two months before shipping, is far superior. He added that a 100-acre farm could provide 20 per cent of the local supply of onions, and his company had tendered their request to the Ministry to acquire land to run a commercial onion operation at Chaguaramas.
Over the last five years, Trinidad and Tobago has imported TT$100 million worth of onions.
The authorities here have been trying not very successfully to grow these crops on a commercial scale. In March, Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy said that the search continues for varieties of potatoes and onions that can be grown commercially and at a competitive cost here. This project was being pursued by former agriculture minister, Robert Persaud and test plots of Irish potatoes and onions were set up in the highlands of Region Eight. These test plots were reportedly successful but the high cost of transportation make the produce grown there uncompetitive as compared to imports, he said.
Lopez told Stabroek News last week that the company would be interested in pursuing such a project but at the moment, an issue would be the resources to pursue the venture. “We have already started something but it will take some time,” he said. He said that they are looking at onions but at the moment there isn’t too much to report. Asked whether they had been approached by the Agriculture Ministry with regards to pursuing such a project, Lopez said no but added that if they are, they would be willing to consider it. They have been a part of the agriculture thrust, he noted.
Trinidad is also pursuing the production of carrots on a commercial scale and the Trinidad Guardian reported in March that by the end of July, the country will harvest its first batch of carrots. The pilot project will be undertaken by Caribbean Chemicals and Agencies Ltd and the Ministry of Food Production. The newspaper said that it will be the first-ever commercially-viable carrot crop in T&T. The report said that Five Star Farms, a subsidiary of Caribbean Chemicals, did a test run in February by planting several beds of carrot seedlings at Tucker Valley, which have surpassed their expectations.
