73 Farmers Complete Cocoa Disease Management Training

Approximately 73 farmers have graduated from the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) Farmer Field School under the Cocoa Frosty Pod Rot Disease Management Programme.

The programme adopts a farmer-centred approach to combatting frosty pod rot disease in cocoa through an intensive eight-week training course.

Cocoa farmers in Clarendon and St. Mary were targeted for the initiative, as the parishes are among the country’s leading cocoa-producing areas.

During the graduation and handover ceremony, held on Tuesday (July 14) at St. Jude’s Anglican Church in Stony Hill, St. Andrew, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, underscored the importance of equipping farmers with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively combat the disease.

“This Farmer Field School initiative ensures that you get practical learning [and] that you look at problem-solving. It takes a farmer-driven approach, so that you can pass on information to other farmers in your community,” he said.

Mr. Green noted that over the course of the training, farmers received both classroom instruction and hands-on experience in grafting, nutrition management, proper tool use, pesticide application and land husbandry practices, all aimed at strengthening their capacity to effectively manage the disease.

The Minister further pointed out that the successful application of these techniques is expected to boost farmers’ productivity, thereby increasing yields and improving their income.

“What we have found is, when you take a farmer-first approach, you have better outcomes. When we give you the training, and then you modify your approach, and when a man looks and sees your farm is doing well, that next farmer is more likely to modify their approach as well… and now that you have the training, you can impart to them,” Mr. Green stated.

In addition to the training, each graduate received a personal toolkit and equipment package to support the implementation of the techniques and practices learned during the programme.

The support packages included herbicide, fungicide, a reaping hook, machete and file, spreader-sticker adhesive, and a 45-gallon water drum.

“But we’re not stopping there, because the other thing that we’re going to do is… we’re establishing a revolving loan programme where we’re going to provide the pole pruners, the chainsaws, the brush cutters, the mist blowers, and the reaping hooks on a loan arrangement, because we want that to serve multiple farmers,” Minister Green announced.

He stated that the initiative is expected to benefit more than 2,000 cocoa farmers, including members of established farming groups in the country’s major cocoa-producing parishes.

“It means, whatever you take in the loan programme, you should take good care of it so that other farmers will benefit. We expect this will help us to maintain the gains that we have made,” Minister Green said.

He committed the Ministry’s support to continuing its partnership with farmers as it works to restore the cocoa industry to higher levels of production.