 Good day again, St. Lucia, and welcome to the program, Agriculture on the Move. My name is Philip Sidney. Today we will be discussing the COCO project, which is organized and coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture, and of course, we'll give you an update on our COCO Festival. With me is Mr. Eloy Alexis, who is the Chief Extension Officer attached to the Ministry of Agriculture, and is also the point person for the COCO project. Welcome to the program, Mr. Alexis. Welcome. Thank you, Mr. Sidney. Good day to all. Let me just start off by saying thanks for bringing me on so as I can share in terms of the latest development, which is taking place in the COCO sector, which is financed by the governments of St. Lucia and the Republic of China and Taiwan, and also your upcoming festival in Sulfray. Definitely. Everybody is looking forward to that festival. But before we get to that, give us an overview of the COCO project in St. Lucia. All right. So the government in its wisdom saw the need to really enhance the COCO sector because of a number of the development, which was taking place in that sector, and we all know the situation that we are faced with banana, and we have been speaking about agricultural diversification, and we saw the need for us to really at least give momentum to that sub-sector. So under the COCO sector enhancement program, there are a number of initiatives we are going to undertake. It is a three-year project, and under that project, we are going to at least rehabilitate 278 acres of, sorry, expand by 278 acres, and rehabilitate 198 acres of COCO. We are going to provide training to farmers and agro-processors, so we are going to provide training in the agronomy of the crop. Also, the BAF propagation will be the center for the production of seedlings, so we are going to facilitate seedlings to the farmers, and these seedlings have been sold or have been sold to the farmers at a subsidized price of $2, or rather I should say a further subsidized price of $2, because the normal subsidy on plants is $4 or $5, but with that project, we further brought it down to $2. All right. Where exactly, in terms of location, that project is attacking? The project is an island-wide project, but you know with COCO cultivation, you must have the micro-climatic condition for it to really grow. So in terms of getting the right micro-climatic condition for COCO, we all know the Souffre area is the cradle for COCO cultivation. Region one and two, region four to some extent, region seven, and well, region eight, we can see the dynamic which is taking place in that region, that every time that that in terms of the land mass for farming in that area is contracting, but in terms of the micro-climatic condition which exists in that area, it is deemed conducive for the cultivation of COCO. The number of farmers that have been targeted? So we are trying in terms of targeting at least 300 farmers to get on board. Thus far, I mentioned the production of seedlings. Thus far we have distributed 6,700 seedlings so that roughly translates in terms of acreage, in terms of expansion, 17 new acres of COCO has been established under this project. In terms of rehabilitation, have you all started that yet? No, we know that in terms of you have to target, you must target in terms of that exercise, must be approached at the right time. We do not want to go and prune COCO during the rainy season. We all know what that might create in terms of the moisture that COCO might be flowering or fruiting and also the moisture level, especially if a fruit is infested or tree infested with the fungus. There is a great tendency that I am having to go in there and disrupt and do all these changes in the COCO that you might be spreading at the spores of the fungus around, especially the black pod. In terms of acreage that you are hoping to establish during the project period, how many acres are you all looking at? As I said, we are trying to establish in terms of 279 acres of COCO. So that's a revise because initially in terms of the budget we had requested, we were requesting $5 million but we did not get that amount so we got something less than that and for this we had to revise the scope of the project. In terms of farmer interest, have you seen an interest in farmers coming forward knowing of this project and wanting to re-establish the COCO fields? Definitely so, especially the estates, especially on the west coast side that most of the estates have seen the need and the opportunities which exist in the COCO sub-sector. So most of them are coming in and they are rehabilitating, replacing trees which are moribund or which has been dead and also they are expanding the acreage of COCO. I know we have some major producers or estates. Can you give an idea of those major estates? All right, so the major estates as I said the Souffre area is the most dynamic or prolific area when it comes to COCO production and some of the major estates in that area. We have Union Vale, I think it's the largest estate in Saint Lucia and even the OECS. We have Fodo which is owned by Lytton Lamantine. We have Hotel Chocula as you really know so they have come in and they have at least invested a lot in the COCO sub-sector. So and there's a number, Nick Ancharsney, an emerald estate, he has two farms. So producing COCO, but the interesting things about these estates right now they have incorporated tourism. So on most of these estates they have an ecologe where people can come in and stay and also they have gone further in terms of adding value to COCO. So most of the estates that I mentioned they are involved in the production of dark chocolate. That happens in terms of the, I know we have had Jed Mountain has come on board and they have done quite a lot of work and we also have Hotel Chocula. I know they have a program with farmers and I know they have been working with farmers by giving them plants and in turn the farmers are giving them the raw material to work with. The ministry is on board, are they working in tandem with the ministry? At times they would call and find out in terms of who are the producers of COCO, not in the Souffre Basin but on the east side. So we have given them information in terms of who are the producers and currently they have established a buying depot on the east side which is by Trumasi where they are that is the buying point where I think every Wednesday they go down there and they purchase beans from the wet beans from the farmers. Moving forward do you think that you have also some of the smaller farmers are coming on board knowing that the project is there and there is a market for COCO? Yes so you find a lot of people coming of the smaller farmers or persons with an varium, lilies, an acre, half an acre coming on board showing an interest in terms of planting COCO because they have seen in terms of the price which is being paid per pound dry beans right now. Currently a pound of dry beans has been sold at $12, $13, $14 which is almost 200 percent from let's say two or three years ago. So the people have seen that opportunity and that they go in and establish COCO. There's a COCO fermentry up in Anger who that does not come been commissioned for a while. How is that COCO fermentry fitting into the whole milly? All right so that COCO fermentry was financed under the BAM and the vision behind it was to assist those small to medium producers in terms of the drying and fermenting of the beans because that is one aspect of COCO cultivation for you to get the desired aroma of the beans that you must follow the right fermentation process. So that was done but it had been the facility had been idle for sometimes but just I think two years ago the government of St Lucia in its wisdom saw the need to at least lease the property to an English and St Lucia national and so pretty soon up to last week I had a meeting with them and they will be going around buying the beans from the farmers and fermenting the beans and adding value to it right here in St Lucia. Okay does the project assist the farmers with fertilization and also pest management? Well as I said the budget was revised so we did not have a component in terms of providing a fertilizer to farmers but with regards to pruning we are the project has a pruning component where we're going to assist the farmer in pruning the COCO. That is one of the areas that we need that needs urgent attention in terms of a lot of the COCO estates on island they are not being maintained properly and when I speak about maintenance in terms of the trees the permanent trees is too shady and we all know the situation that we have been faced in terms of the temperature that you have a high level of high temperature coupled with high humidity on the ground so that is the perfect combination for the spread of fungus and even this year what I've noticed by going around to the various estates the yield will be significantly reduced because of that in terms of the problem with black pod so the high there's a high level of infestation of black pod which is caused by the fungus and this is due mainly because I'm the variation in temperature you get a high temperature and then you get the rain afterwards. Okay so you say that based on the environmental condition there's a growth of the fungal disease and so the fungus is basically proliferating under that condition so that is the condition it likes high temperature coupled with humidity. But in addition to that do you all encourage the control by pest management? In terms of rodents will the project might be looking at in terms of providing bits for the control of rodents on the field but in terms of disease management per se the other pertinent disease in cuckoo was witch's broom when we first detected that disease we had several workshop with farmers in terms of training them in terms of the management of the witch's broom so it is still wrong but not as before in terms of the level of infestation so the right now the most important our pertinent issue with cuckoo as a result of climate change is the spread of black pod and fungus. Great we'll do for our first break. You're watching agriculture on the move we'll do for a break we'll be back soon I have to judge your food over there you know I decided okay yeah we don't vibrate yeah that's okay so you'll move on to now we will touch again on what areas do you want to touch again under the project well the training component. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development is placing heavy emphasis on the concept of food security it's our prosperity our future the cuckoo sector enhancement project CSEP is targeting the rehabilitation of at least 201 acres of cuckoo and the expansion of at least 294 acres it protects against main diseases like black pod and witch's broom and pests like rodents it secures the appropriate enabling environment to advance the sector. To learn more about the cuckoo sector enhancement project please contact Project Coordinator at 459-7003. And of course if you're just joining us we're talking about cuckoo the cuckoo project as is being established in St Lucia financed by Government of St Lucia and Republic of China Taiwan. Mr Alexander I know another component is training of the farmers. Have that started or it will be starting soon? All right it really supposed to have been started in terms of initiated but under the second quarter so right now we are moving on to the food quarter but the plan is so we are going to push it back on to the food quarter because of circumstances and some circumstances which arise but the training of the farmers we have realized that the farmers need to be trained to industry standards and when we commissioned the rapid assessment of the sector it revealed that the average field density is 169 plants per acre and that is not compatible with industry standard so we need to bring these farmers on par in terms of establishing the correct planting density where they can use the traditional of using 300 plants or the standards of 400 plants per acre also in terms of pest and disease management pruning height management so all of these things we need to train these farmers so that they can properly manage these estates or plants because if you don't manage the plant how can you really achieve the true genetic potential of the plant because a lot of the plants that we have it is said that at least at least a farmer should obtain one kilogram of dry beans per plant now some farmers do more than that I know a farmer in Souffre they do up to two three kilograms per tree but at least anything below one kilogram that and even with the the planting density anything below that that you cannot get in terms of what is expected per acre that is your economic viability viability so you need to get the correct that is one of the critical factors that we need to address in having the farmers to get the correct planting density to get the kind of hill that we hope to get so are you saying that is a problem that you all have identified that is a problem we have identified now that may have been so as you might be aware that on the cuckoo estate they intercrop it heavily with other tree crops of economic importance avocado right and these things so hence that might be a reason and the farmers now may have not keep an active regiment in terms of replanting dead trees over the years so right now as I said you are seeing them these estates estates owners coming and by plants and they are replacing them the dead trees or moribund trees um on the estates so the training is is it both indoor training and outdoor training what what what so the training would have been indoor training and outdoor in terms of practical and I um just this year um under the ACPM EES project financed by FAO or the implementing agency which is FAO we are training all farmers in the fermentation drying of beans so farmers benefited from that initiative but this time around we have not really targeted um agronomy so the agronomy training will be done under this project the cuckoo sector enhancement project which will be soon so okay marketing is key because I mean the reason for that project is in terms to increase production and of course for marketing is there a marketing component in that project are you all working with marketing agencies to ensure the farmers have an outlet for those produce the situation right now as it exists on the ground that persons who's involved in cuckoo trading be it um agro processors or exporters cannot get enough beans so there is not an issue with in terms of um the um the marketing of the beans but we have realized that cuckoo as a producer as a primary producer that person does not stand to gain much from just being a mere primary producer where the money lies in cuckoo is adding value to cuckoo um under that project we have proposed we had some consultation with the farmers in terms of um a governance structure for the industry and we propose that um we go through the route of a cooperative so that um we bring in the producers of the raw material and the agro processors or we um elaborate products out of the raw material and we um at least share the dividends among all so the industry fomentary as it stands now are they buying the raw material from the farmers they are going to start they are not starting they have not started as yet so right now i'm working with them as i said just last week i had a meeting with them and they request in the list of um producers so that they can go on the ground and have the agents work with these producers because they realize there's competition on the ground with hotel chocola so they want to and for them to really attract these um producers the price that they're going to be have to be competitive also or equal or eclipse that of hotel chocola so as i said in terms of market availability um the market is there locally for farmers to sell right now any amount of beans that they have from hotel um hotel chocola and chastney right now look i'm just yesterday i am i um discovered that um vice-royal resort sugar beach in sufre soon will be producing their own um speciality chocolate so they do not have any estate so this means that um they will be buying the beans from the farm so that's an additional market and that's an additional market and we have seen in terms of um so whenever there's scarcity persons the suppliers can regulate their prices and what we have seen we have seen the price of beans moved from six dollars to fourteen twelve dollars okay okay in terms of um inputs for the farmers is there a already availability of inputs for the farmers when they need it at the right time um so under that project we intend to address in terms of our provide some inputs to farmers especially um um weed eaters so we are going to purchase the pool source and we might not we do not have the fact the brutal truth is that we do not have enough resources to provide all producers with a chainsaw or pool saw or um how you call it a weed eater but we are going to make provision or provision has been made to assist the farmers in terms of the production inputs the other variables and I'm involved in the cultivation of um cuckoo um the fertilizer if they want to use a farm g-side that they will have to go to um the the service providers um the supplier of these inputs to get them well that takes me to the cuckoo festival because what we have seen is a lot of derivatives from cuckoo um a lot of the in other words what I really want to see is the the little person that's unknown in in the rural area who is doing a lot of cuckoo from the cuckoo sticks and other things that they are doing that cuckoo festival um like the other festivals we have we have had uh on the heels of the the the cucko nut and cassava festival in miku is the cuckoo festival in sufre and that's happening on the 15th of october which is a uh uh uh when we to commemorate world food day world food is on the 16th so we do we're really doing it on the 15th which is a sunday and that's going to that's going to happen on the old trafford um bus terminal complex which is the where there's a market okay um we are hoping that to start at 10 o'clock and that will go for the entire day so we are hoping to have a showcasing of cuckoo products products and I know and you you have worked with a lot of the cuckoo people down there you know who they are um hotel chocorice on board in a big way jade mountain is on board in a big way and a lot of the persons who are in the sufre area is on board but it's not only for for suferians alone it's it's island wide so there are people coming from the other from the east like there's the rural women group they and you know they're producing the dark chocolate okay so they are going to be there so we're going to really showcase what solutions have been doing with cuckoo and that's again I think it enhances your project because the more cuckoo that's been produced the more um products that are going to be derived from cuckoo that are going to be produced um our chocolates have been I mean exported to various parts in the world as you know all right I know um the women in Angi are doing very very very well and they're good they're going to be there so for sejak we have the jaco valley products they're going to be present so there are lots up and so far about 16 persons that are going to be um be exhibiting the products on that day but it's not only exhibition but they have to market themselves they'll be selling on that day too so there's an opportunity a platform for them to tell them who they are and we will give them that that that opportunity too in fact jade mountain says they're going to be doing uh from the tree to the chocolate so and they will be showing all of this on but that will also a big a big thing on that day we have enhancement we have entertainment um gypsum in our main our main our main uh headliner and we have uh I mean the list goes on I I try to get a lot of people from down there we have mishak um um we have manasa we have manchance we have invader we have asra we have the legendary dashing the legendary dashing police will come on jimmy and so it's going to be it's going to be fun and I'm looking forward to that and everything cocoa the baths will be the everything everything so we're looking forward for persons to participate come down there's a family there the kids zoning the whole work so be there any final words from you sir yes um as you were saying in terms of value added there's a lot of um surprising development when it comes to value adding we are of cocoa beans um a lot of the solutions are not away of the number of um different um derivatives that um are being produced from chocolate and that is like a a a guarded secret because most of the the persons who are involved in it owns or operate hotels so it is more relegated to guests come in at the hotel right so I am forward to have a same thing a chocolate experience where I'm they invite you you pay your money and then you produce your own chocolate I was surprised that I'm you give me a samples of five different um chocolates that they produce percentage of this percentage of that and I'm quite a few solution and you don't see that on the shelf of masses because you're coming to me another program I want to thank you for being here and hopefully that program will be a great one you've been watching agriculture in the movie thank you for being the program don't forget our cocoa festival Sunday coming the 15th of October in Souffre I'm Philip Sidney saying goodbye and see you again yes I