Essequibo farmer boosts red bean production with help from NAREI

Dec 17, 2018 News

Farmer Mullen Archer recently harvested a staggering 300 extra pounds of red beans, thanks to a soil enrichment demonstration project conducted by the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) on his farm.
Between June and November 2018, Archer collaborated with NAREI to execute the project on two acres of farmland at Dartmouth Village (back dam), which has a long standing reputation for red bean production.
The project was done with the aim of improving and supporting red bean production by increasing quality seeding material. The project required the use of inocula and fertilizer regiment (to improve yield, growth and vigor), and an integrated pest disease management system.

A section of the farm

NAREI has successfully developed a suitable substrate for growing legumes and has been transferring the technology through demonstration farms. The inoculation of seeds with Rhizobia bacteria helps legume plants to fix atmospheric nitrogen, thus reducing a farmer’s dependence on the more costly nitrogenous fertilizers.
Archer, who has been planting the crop on the Essequibo Coast for years, usually reaps between 700 and 800 pounds of red beans every crop. However, the demonstration project saw him reaping 1,000 pounds of red beans. A portion of the beans would be sold in Georgetown.
Jumain Hubbard, NAREI’s Crop Extension Assistant, who worked closely with Archer said that “about 70 percent of the red beans have already been sold or traded as seeding materials to at least 12 farmers within the community.”
The project was well received by the community and has provided financial benefits to the farmer.
According to Dr. Oudho Homenauth, Chief Executive Officer of NAREI, “following years of research, several trials have been conducted to test the inocula under different conditions…This trial is one of many that derived positive responses…But, the most important outcome is that the farmer is willing to adopt this technology because he has experienced the benefit.”

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