Last week Ministers and Officials of Government, and representatives of the Anguilla Farmers’ Association, travelled on guided tours of four vegetable farms on the island.

Chef Carrie instructing students

The first was Black’s Memorial Agricultural Project in The Valley, commemorating the work of the late Extension Officer, Rudolph Gumbs. On that project are a number of vegetable plots owned by various farmers.
The second area visited was Frankie Lake’s Organic Farms at The Farrington. The third was Wallblake Estate farmland cultivated by several farmers. The fourth visit was to Rainbow Farms at South Hill owned by Rhona Richardson-Roydon.

The farms had sizeable cultivations of cabbage, sweet peppers, lettuce, various varieties of tomatoes, onions, chives and other vegetables.
A notable absence on the farms was the growing of pumpkins which are in high demand in supermarkets and hotels. As shown in the photograph accompanying this rehashed story, pumpkins can be grown in abundance in Anguilla to help subsidise or perhaps replace frequent imports of the produce from neighbouring islands as far south as Trinidad.

There is an obvious need to encourage farmers and supermarket owners to grow and buy, respectively, locally-grown pumpkins respectively.
The tour was organised by the Farmers’ Association in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture. The aim was to show Government the potential of agriculture in Anguilla and the need for an organised marketing and sales arrangement for locally-grown produce. The Farmers’ Association has called for the appointment of a Marketing Officer to work with farmers, a matter which the Government says it is considering.

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