Agribusiness plan
I wanted to discuss the agribusiness plan a little bit. I have gotten many emails asking what does it look like, how will it happen, etc.
As I have mentioned in many different blogs, a cooperative will be setup to handle and govern all of the farming programs. It helps lower cost and give a strong competitive advantage when you have a cooperative. So that is a brief overview of how it will happen.
It will take a few good farmers to make the co-op work and it will take a new way of doing things to make it work. While I have discussed beekeeping and tilapia farming, there will also be a focus on actual vegetable and fruit crops. I mentioned things like the Pinto Bean for example, but I haven't discussed how the fields will be prepared.
Major issues such as poor soil, lack of water, free roaming animals, and lack of farm equipment make normal open field farming very labor intensive. The lack of basic controls really hurt and affect the crop production. The honeybee is looked at as being the first part of the infrastructure as they will pollinate crops. The next idea of infrastructure is raised beds. While raised beds are looked at as not something that can be on a large scale production, it does allow the farmer to have more control over many obstacles. A raised bed can be designed to stop goats, pigs, and cows from affecting the crop. Raised beds will prevent the effects of water run-off, poor soil, and bad drainage issues. Many times crops wither rot, or just don't get enough good soil to begin with. This adds to the hunger and nutritional issues on the island. It also affects the cost of buying food. All of these negatives lead to the current issues of today. Also with raised beds, the farmer can now have a dedicated self watering system in place that is again, less labor intensive overall. Also water catchment systems will prevent farmers from having to bring water in.
Coupled with composting measures and proper mulching to hold water onto the plants and even out soil temperatures, farming is going to change on La Gonave.
We will see a major difference soon as I bring a few new and old crops to the island. Things like Kiwano, various melons, various beans, squash, onions, herbs, and fruits will be discussed this year when I visit. I will have a few farmers that participate in the co-op to grow some of these crops using methods I mentioned that will promote growth. The old open field approach is over and the idea of having crop beds is going to be tested. If successful we expect to make it a regular part of our agribusiness plan.
Go Gonave!
As I have mentioned in many different blogs, a cooperative will be setup to handle and govern all of the farming programs. It helps lower cost and give a strong competitive advantage when you have a cooperative. So that is a brief overview of how it will happen.
It will take a few good farmers to make the co-op work and it will take a new way of doing things to make it work. While I have discussed beekeeping and tilapia farming, there will also be a focus on actual vegetable and fruit crops. I mentioned things like the Pinto Bean for example, but I haven't discussed how the fields will be prepared.
Major issues such as poor soil, lack of water, free roaming animals, and lack of farm equipment make normal open field farming very labor intensive. The lack of basic controls really hurt and affect the crop production. The honeybee is looked at as being the first part of the infrastructure as they will pollinate crops. The next idea of infrastructure is raised beds. While raised beds are looked at as not something that can be on a large scale production, it does allow the farmer to have more control over many obstacles. A raised bed can be designed to stop goats, pigs, and cows from affecting the crop. Raised beds will prevent the effects of water run-off, poor soil, and bad drainage issues. Many times crops wither rot, or just don't get enough good soil to begin with. This adds to the hunger and nutritional issues on the island. It also affects the cost of buying food. All of these negatives lead to the current issues of today. Also with raised beds, the farmer can now have a dedicated self watering system in place that is again, less labor intensive overall. Also water catchment systems will prevent farmers from having to bring water in.
Coupled with composting measures and proper mulching to hold water onto the plants and even out soil temperatures, farming is going to change on La Gonave.
We will see a major difference soon as I bring a few new and old crops to the island. Things like Kiwano, various melons, various beans, squash, onions, herbs, and fruits will be discussed this year when I visit. I will have a few farmers that participate in the co-op to grow some of these crops using methods I mentioned that will promote growth. The old open field approach is over and the idea of having crop beds is going to be tested. If successful we expect to make it a regular part of our agribusiness plan.
Go Gonave!
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