Lucayan Tropical Produce (LTP), the latest entrant to the decimated and emaciated agricultural sector, bodes well for farming in The Bahamas, according to local agriculture officials.
LTP’s 12-acre greenhouse employing hydroponic techniques suggests a possible solution for rescuing Bahamian farming from its slow demise.
Though few practicing farmers may have access to the financial resources capable of creating a commercial greenhouse on the scale of LTP’s, the techniques employed can be used for growing a few plants in pots to huge commercial greenhouses.
Dr. Earl Deveaux, LTP’s marketing director, said that LTP was not in direct competition with Bahamian farmers.
“We set out to compete with the farmers in Mexico, Israel and the US who supply us with vegetables,” Dr. Deveaux said.
Pointing to rows of six-foot high tomato plants laden with tomatoes less than three weeks from harvest, Dr. Deveaux said “Today is August 26th and we already have tomatoes while Bahamian farmers have planted yet.”
Hydroponic farming does not necessarily require a huge outlay of money nor is it as labour intensive as traditional soil farming employed by Bahamian farmers.
Dr. Deveaux, a trained agriculturist and former Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, explained that Hydroponic farming techniques gave the farmer complete control over those aspects of farming that are normally left up to nature in traditional farming.
Bahamian farmers who rely on nature are at the mercy of the weather, such things as rainfall, number of hours of sunshine, pests and nutrients in the soil.
Too much or too little rain, not enough hours of sunlight can all affect crop yield, taste and quality of the particular crop.
In the state-of-the-art greenhouse, Dr. Deveaux pointed out that the computerized systems control humidity, water flow to the plants, temperature and light within the greenhouse.
“By being able to control the environment we are able to produce better quality and increase our yield 20 to 30 times over traditional farming all year round,” Dr. Deveaux explained.
Another fact about LTP is that it is the brainchild of a young Bahamian, R. Cameron Symonette. The average age of Bahamian farmers is fast approaching retirement age. Within two decades if the current trend continues there will be no one farming in The Bahamas.
Hydroponic farming has all the ingredients to draw young Bahamians into farming, which is a lucrative and satisfying profession, according to local agriculture experts.
According to one US expert out of Texas, it is possible for a farmer to make $40,000 per annum growing cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce and bell peppers on a third of an acre of land.
Every government since independence has been calling on Bahamians to enter farming. Millions have been spent in various projects designed to encourage Bahamians to enter farming,
Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries V. Alfred Grey said that most young people are not interested in farming and sponging because of the work involved.
“It is hard work and you can’t get young people to go into sponging because they can make more money from lobster and grouper,” Minister Gray said.
Sponging is a $100 million business based primarily on Bahamian sponge exported to Greece and then sold as a Greek product.
New techniques and advances in technology are now putting the lie to the old explanation that farming is too hard and that there is no money to be made.
The facts are otherwise.
As the young Bahamian owner and president of LTP R. Cameron Symonette observed, we have to eat.
Although much is made of oil prices it is still not as important as food. Food is more essential to life on the planet than oil or any other commodity.
The Bahamas, a population of just over 300,000, imports over $300 million to feed Bahamians and millions of visitors each year.
Generally, the perception is that there is little or no money to be made in the traditional farming methods employed by farmers in The Bahamas.
LTP shows that there are more efficient and profitable ways of producing large quantities of good quality vegetables for the Bahamian market.
There is money to be made in farming by Bahamians, Minister Gray noted.
One question facing the Government and young Bahamians is what is the best way to get some of that $300 million.
LTP has staked its claim to some of that $300 million by employing hydroponics, the most efficient way known for increasing and improving quantity and quality of yield.
C. E. Huggins, The Bahama Journal
