NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (January 14, 2021) — The Department of Agriculture on Nevis will be resuming its Fresh Vegetable Market on January 15, 2021, at the Marketing Unit in Charlestown.

Mr. Randy Elliott, Director of Agriculture in the Department of Agriculture in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA), said on January 14, 2021, that the initiative, which started in November 2020, has been well received by members of the public.

“Since November we have been organizing the event practically every Friday, but we took a two-week break over the Christmas period and people have been asking when we would be starting again.

“The general public has been very supportive of the event. I think they appreciate that they can get fresh local produce, and get them at a very low cost,” he told the Department of Information.

The Director said the initiative has a multipart objective, benefitting both the farmers and consumers.

“We want to ensure that persons have access to healthy foods. At the Marketing Unit we consolidate food from farmers around the island and sell the various produce at very cheap prices. We understand that due to the COVID-19 pandemic persons don’t have the resources they would have had before so we’re trying to keep the cost of locally produced food as low as possible.

“We also want to ensure that farmers can make a livelihood from their work, while not losing too much of their time having to leave their farms to go and sell the produce themselves,” he said.

Mr. Elliott noted that because more persons have ventured into farming since the onset of COVID-19, coupled with the NIA’s concessions to farmers, Nevis has seen an explosion with respect to the production of sweet potato and pumpkin.

Each week the list of produce sold varies based on harvesting patterns.

This Friday [January 15], the Marketing Unit will be selling tomatoes at $2.50 per pound; pumpkin at $2.50; sweet potato at $3.50; green papaya at $3.00; seasoning peppers at $5.00; green banana at $2.00; string beans at $3.00; and sorrel at $10.00 per parcel.

The Department of Agriculture’s Fresh Vegetable Market will run from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.