Guyana researches viability in onion production

Feb 05, 2018 News

Groundwork for onion farming.

Last year May, a number of people were on hand to witness the harvesting of onions cultivated in Hopetown Village, West Coast of Berbice, under a PROPEL initiative in collaboration with the National Agriculture Research Institute, NARI.
PROPEL ,which is an acronym for Promotion of Regional Opportunities for Produce through Linkages, is a Canadian-funded programme which seeks to link fresh produce buyers in the region and beyond with Caribbean farmers, processers, and related businesses.
And, the projects are implemented by World University Services of Canada (WUSC), with financial support from donors and the Government of Canada.
The project in Hopetown was one of a number of similar projects along the coastland, to ascertain if onion could be successfully grown in these parts. The results were quite encouraging.
Having established that onion can be successfully grown, the agencies have embarked on another project with a different approach this time. The objective is to fully document every aspect of the project, so that with the findings, such documentation would be available in the future, as a guide or reference for anyone who wants to embark on the cultivation of onion.
There is no such data available at the moment.
Another objective of the project is to prove that onion production in Guyana is economically viable.
According to Mr. Jason Persaud, one of the officers involved in the project, the National Agriculture Research Institute has a mandate to promote local production of a number of crops so as to reduce importation of such, and onion is listed among those.
The current programme is seeking to promote large scale production of onion whereby onion would be eventually removed from Guyana’s list of imported products, and further to be listed as an exported product thereby fully utilising the facilities provided by PROPEL.

Onions being harvested in a pilot project.

The current research project which is being conducted at Fort Wellington, West Coast Berbice, has been undertaken by two students from the University of Guyana, working under the supervision of technical officers from PROPEL who were also involved in the pilot projects last year.
The research done by the students represents part of the fulfillment of the requirements to complete their courses of studies at the University.
Of the two students conducting research, one is looking at the varieties of onion best suited for the Guyana climatic conditions, while the other student is comparing the direct seeding method with the transplanting method.
Students will also be looking at the time each variety takes to mature. The projection is to be able to harvest before the onset of the May-June rains.
Mr. Persaud, also explained that having gone through the initial pilot projects, PROPEL is now adopting the role of facilitator while allowing stakeholders to become involved. In this case, Massey has adopted the project, and provided the seeds used as well as other components of the research.
Massey stands ready to distribute the produce as long as the required standard is met in terms of quality.