{"id":14642,"date":"2011-11-04T08:43:04","date_gmt":"2011-11-04T12:43:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/?p=14642"},"modified":"2011-11-07T10:11:26","modified_gmt":"2011-11-07T15:11:26","slug":"government-encourages-coconut-products-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/2011\/11\/government-encourages-coconut-products-industry","title":{"rendered":"Government Encourages Coconut Products Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
North Eleuthera High School agriculture teacher Brian Williams (right) shows their winter crop seedling layout to BAIC executive chairman Edison M. Key (centre) and assistant general manager for agriculture Arnold Dorsett. Frank Jones is the principal. (BIS Photo\/Gladstone Thurston)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The government is taking steps to revitalise the coconut products industry.<\/p>\n

Through Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) a series of Family Island coconut productivity assessments have started.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, coconut specialist Dr Wayne Myrie of Jamaica and a BAIC team headed by executive chairman Edison M Key surveyed farms in Eleuthera.<\/p>\n

On Monday they met with New Providence growers and on Wednesday they were in South Andros.<\/p>\n

This is the first stage of revitalising the coconut industry to meet local demand for trees, nuts, oil, water and other products.<\/p>\n

This initiative is being spearheaded by the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA).<\/p>\n

There is a limited formally organised plantings of coconut orchards in The Bahamas. Most existing production is based on old trees and volunteer growth. South Andros has the highest coconut tree count and is seen as serving as a base for expansion.<\/p>\n

Due to the need to introduce new germ plasm in order to boost productivity, a mission by a coconut specialist from Jamaica was requested in order to assist and advise producers about new available varieties and approaches to revitalise coconut production.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is great potential for an industry here,\u201d said Dr Myrie. \u201cThere is a wide range of products that you can obtain from the coconut tree which is why it is called the tree of heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has 14 years experience in coconut production and specialises in the problems associated with coconut production including pests and diseases. He has a PhD in bio-chemistry and an MSc in plant pathology and has worked with Jamaica\u2019s Coconut Industry Board since 1997.<\/p>\n

Contrary to mainstream view, Dr Myrie insists that coconuts have no health-damaging cholesterol.<\/p>\n

There are varieties of coconuts to suit the different soil conditions on the islands.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are exploring the possibilities of creating an industry from coconuts,\u201d said Mr Key. \u201cEvery portion of the coconut can be used for something.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn South Andros we\u2019re looking at putting in equipment to extract coconut oil and process other coconut products.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see it as an industry that could employ hundreds of people and create many opportunities for Bahamians.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a huge demand for coconut products.\u201d<\/p>\n

BAIC\u2019s assistant general manager for agriculture, Arnold Dorsett, was impressed by Greg Stuart\u2019s orchard in North Eleuthera.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has an excellent start with almost 50 acres of coconuts. He has a good variety, they are well planted, and they are doing very well.\u201d<\/p>\n

While convinced the market in The Bahamas for coconut products is good, Mr Dorsett was concerned about fair access to it by Bahamian growers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t want Mr Stuart or anyone else to go into production like this and cannot sell their product on the local market.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, there should be no need at this time that we should be importing such a large number of coconut trees at different stages and ages for the landscaping industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just have to encourage Bahamians to support Bahamian and if need be then we can bring in from elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Gladstone Thurston
\nBahamas Information Services<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The government is moving to revitalise the coconut products industry. Through BAIC a series of Family Island coconut productivity assessments have started.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[80,23,40],"class_list":["post-14642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-headlines","tag-agriculture","tag-food","tag-government"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14642\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}