By Robert A. Emmanuel
Project Coordinator in the Ministry of Agriculture, Brent Georges said that the results of the first phase of the Caribbean Small Island Developing States (CSIDS) Soil Care project will improve crop production by helping farmers to make informed decisions about the health of the soil on their farms.
Antigua and Barbuda along with Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, and Saint Lucia will participating in the four-year project that will have five components.
The Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management (PISLM) with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and in collaboration with the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and UWI St Augustine is executing a national soil survey in Antigua and Barbuda.
This is part of the regional project called Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Multi-Country Soil Management Initiative for Integrated Landscape Restoration and Sustainable Food Systems: Phase 1 (CSIDS-SOILCARE Phase 1).
“By having this done, it is going to upgrade our database with regards to the soil nutrition, in terms of the components of the soil,” Georges said.
“We are always talking about food security and how important it is to produce [our own food] … the basis for production lies in the soil, unless you are going by way of hydroponics.”
“Farmers always want to know how much nitrogen do [they] have in [their] soil and how much water … ultimately this project aims at giving that information to the relevant authorities … so that farmers can access it through the Ministry of Agriculture so they would make better decisions,” he added.
Antigua and Barbuda will be taking part in two components: Component 1 which will focus on strengthening national and regional soils information, technical capacity and coordination as a Basis for Improved Decision Making; and Component 4 will focus on the enhancement of alternative livelihoods through the promotion of innovations in agriculture and livestock production systems.
Project Assistant Simone Dias also spoke about the benefits of the soil sampling project.
“Component 1 of the project is very vital for improving and identifying soil degradation through the national soil survey … the project really focusses on establishing a Caribbean Soil Laboratory Network and Caribbean Soil Information System,” Dias said.
She added that the production of a “state of the art” soil map which was one of the potential outcomes of the project, will supply data on soil organic content.
“It would interesting, to know the health of the soil currently compared to 50 years ago and to know specifically where the soil has been degraded or maintained,” she explained.
She also noted that this project will help the Ministry of Agriculture to create its Soil Unit, capable of testing the soil beyond the end of the project.
“The project has also pledged to provide or procure testing equipment to the Department of Analytical Services,” Dias said.
Field officers from various departments within the Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Environment, Barbuda Council along with consultants from PISLM and UWI will embark on collecting 120 soil samples which will span both Antigua and Barbuda based on digital soil sampling combining soil groups and land use data.
Georges also asked for the cooperation of public and private property owners to aid in the success of the project, as they reveal that some sites will fall on private properties.
Phase one of the project will be executed both in Antigua and Barbuda from June 5 to June 22.