 The Agriculture Ministry, in collaboration with the Taiwan Technical Mission, hosted a demonstration of the proper cultivation techniques of eight varieties of eggplant, inclusive of three local varieties, and five newly introduced varieties. Eggplant is one of the focal crops under the second phase of the enhancement of the efficiency of production distribution supply chains of the fruit and vegetable sector project, also known as the Seven Crops project, of which the overall goal is to reduce St. Lucia's reliance on imports. Farmers were given instructions on how to grow eggplant and the possible uses of the varying kinds. Production specialist attached to the Seven Crops project, Eric Chen, explains the project's goal is to focus on a crop that is both high in demand and amenable to cultivation within our region. We are having this eggplant varietal trial training today to show the farmers there are different kinds of eggplants here now that we brought in in St. Lucia and to so that we can increase the diversification in the market and also we know that the demand of the markets is increasing in eggplants so we are encouraging the farmers to plant more eggplants so they can also increase their income due to the high demand of the market. Technical production officer for the Seven Crops project Edward Wilson says this interactive approach is geared toward educating the population on the nutritional benefits of the consumption of eggplant to successfully improve food security. We're seeing that the demand for eggplants is increasing however the consumption of it locally still is still something to be to be worked on what we notice is that the preparation of eggplant is not so fast by local consumers so we want to show people that different varieties of eggplant have different characteristics some are softer some are longer and some are purple some are darkish so today we're just showing the farmers how easy it is to cultivate eggplant and what each of the varieties they purpose. The next phase of the trial will see an eggplant expo on the 27th of September 2022 in Constitution Park where students and chefs will get an opportunity to present various ways eggplant can be incorporated into our diet. From the communications unit of the Ministry of Agriculture I am Manisha Anton reporting.