The delegation facilitated capacity building through training and exposure to management practices undertaken in the US sweet potato growing regions.
Jamaica. In an effort to expand exports of agricultural produce from Jamaica, IICA is collaborating with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MOAF) to produce orange flesh sweet potato varieties for export, in response to an expressed demand for this variety from the UK market.
During 2015, IICA organized the importation of planting material to initiate a clean seed programme for the propagation of the Beauregard sweet potato variety and has continued to support this export thrust by providing technical guidance to growers during the commercial production of the Beauregard sweet potato, following the commencement of planting in August. IICA is also providing technical assistance for the management of trials of the Covington orange flesh sweet potato variety, which are being managed by the Ministry Research and Development Division.
Additionally, the office facilitated capacity building for personnel involved in the orange flesh sweet potato export programme through training and exposure to management practices undertaken in the US sweet potato growing regions. The training was provided by a representative of Louisiana State University in general production and pest management. IICA also organized for Ministry personnel to attend the annual sweet potato conference and exposition in Tennessee early in the year and in August visit farms in Louisiana to view crop management practices.
These activities follow the execution in 2014 of trials of the Beauregard sweet potato variety mainly on plots in selected Agro Parks managed by the Agricultural Competitiveness Programme (ACP), a project funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and executed through MOAF. The IICA Jamaica office had supported this initiative with technical assistance for the establishment, growing, harvesting and storage for the sweet potato trials.
The trials sought to familiarize farmers and local authorities with the production and post-harvest handling of this variety of sweet potato, which has never before been produced commercially in Jamaica and for which agronomic practices are quite different from those for the yellow and white varieties of sweet potato. Local production of the orange flesh sweet potato will enable the country to tap into a growing international market, as demand for this sweet potato has risen by 18.5% annually over the past 4 years, driven by a growing awareness of the nutritional benefits of sweet potato.
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