Youth education is key to building future food security! On August 6, 31 students from the Vacation Station St. Kitts and Nevis Premier Camp Planners visited the CARDI field station as part of their summer program centered on “Fun, Food and Fitness.”

The tour combined physical outdoor activity with practical agricultural learning, giving students a firsthand look at how local crops are grown and harvested.

Tour Highlights:

• Root Crop Demonstrations: Live instruction on growing sweet potatoes from tubers, along with planting and harvesting methods for cassava.
• Field Exploration: Guided walkthroughs of sweet and hot pepper plots.
• Orchard Experience: A lunch break in the fruit orchard paired with a lesson on tropical fruits such as soursop, guava, sugar apple, golden apple, carambola, and West Indian cherries.

In alignment with the camp’s focus on healthy lifestyle choices, CARDI also visited the camp on 21 August to donate fresh, locally grown sugar apples, guavas, and green bananas for the children to enjoy.

The St Kitts and Nevis Department of Agriculture has received 500 Brazilian coconut seedlings through a capacity-building initiative led in collaboration with the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), focused on coconut propagation, agronomy, and pest and disease management.

The official handover marks an important step in strengthening local capacity and expanding opportunities for coconut production. The initiative also provides technical knowledge to support successful coconut establishment, management, and production.

With continued investment in knowledge, resources, and resilient production systems, we are laying the groundwork for a stronger and more productive agricultural sector.

The Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, recently hosted a training workshop aimed at improving production systems and farm management among small ruminant stakeholders across the Federation.

Participants explored the three major production systems — intensive, semi-intensive, and extensive — while gaining practical knowledge in record-keeping, nutrition, disease control, and systemic livestock management to improve efficiency, sustainability, and profitability.

CARDI representatives also conducted field visits to farms throughout the Federation, reinforcing the Institute’s ongoing commitment to advancing the livestock sector in St. Kitts and Nevis.

You are invited to our Seminar on Greenhouse production in the Caribbean: Getting it Right

If you’re in St Kitts you can join us on:
Thursday 2 October 2025,
11:00am to 12:30pm

Dominica Room, St Kitts Marriott Beach Resort

If attending virtually, register at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ULc_I22ZQcqDgevEKjUOcw

You are invited to our Seminar on Sweet Potato: Building climate resilience and food security.

If you’re in St Kitts you can join us on:
Thursday 2 October 2025,
1: 30pm to 3:00pm
Dominica Room, St Kitts Marriott Beach Resort

If attending virtually, register at  https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/a-XLBVbEQA-ydf-qudimaA