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Local strawberries!
For years Guyanese were told that the much loved fruit—strawberry—cannot be planted in Guyana due to its tropical climate. But one farmer has proved that contention wrong.
Strawberries that were grown in Guyana.
Fergusson Bell’s dream of having this exotic fruit in his ranch-style farm at Maikwak, Region Eight, became a reality almost five years ago when his daughter, Isabelle Bell, travelled to the United States of America and brought back some of the fruits for him.
Bell, who cares for his fruits and vegetables in the same way one would care for an infant, extracted the seeds from the strawberries and planted them. Although the fruits were not successful at first, a determined Bell tried for more than two years until he got it right—Now you can walk into his garden and pick a strawberry.
Isabelle said that her father’s secret to planting strawberries, which are fully organic, has to do with the correct mixture of soil—one he is not prepared to share since it took him years to get it right! “My father likes these exotic fruits and he always wanted to try strawberries.”
To prevent the fruits from getting pests, the farmer plants them in containers and places them on elevated stands. “When we put it in the soil, pest would take it over so my father had to look for ways to prevent the pest,” Isabella said.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, there are 103 distinct species and subspecies of strawberry plants. Fergusson is planting the “Everbearing strawberries” which are ready to be harvested every three months.
The cold climate in the hinterland region and the soil type played an important role in the success of the strawberries.
Fergusson, who has been a farmer for the past 30 years, only plants the exotic fruits for his family’s consumption, but he is now looking to expand and allow Guyanese to get a taste of his locally grown strawberries.
To do this, the small scale farmer will need investors since the fruits will have to be shuttled out of the region by planes because there is no road, and airfares are expensive. Additionally, storage of the fruits will be a challenge since there is no electricity in Maikwak and the strawberries cannot be out of cold storage for more than two days.
On the plus side, the young Bell said that her father has lots of land and is ready to expand his strawberry farm and with the government’s support, strawberries can be another option in the local market like mangoes, bananas and cherries.
“(Large scale production of strawberries) is possible but we need a lot of support from the government. It will take approximately $100M to get this place ready,” Isabella said.
The National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI)’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Oudho Homenauth said that the agency has always been exploring the production of high valued commodities in the hinterland regions.
He pointed out that strawberries happen to be one of those fruits which can be grown in those regions due to its cold climate but transportation cost to the market is quite a lot.
However, Dr. Homenauth said that local strawberry production is still feasible given the cost they are being sold for in the supermarkets after being imported.
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