The Tribune

Farmers across The Bahamas have received cassava sticks and sweet potato slips as part of the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute’s (BAMSI) Roots and Tubers Distribution initiative.

The programme, which launched earlier this year, is expected to continue until early 2021 in a bid to boost the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources’ food substitution initiative amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

To-date, almost 6,300 pounds of cassava sticks and 57 bundles of sweet potatoes slips have been delivered to 276 farmers across the country. Since the initial launch almost five months ago, the cassava and sweet potato plant materials have been delivered to Abaco and its cays – Man O' War Cay, Guana Cay and Green Turtle Cay.

They have also been distributed to South Andros, the Berry Islands, Bimini, Cat Island, Eleuthera, Exuma, Inagua, Long Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador.

Stephen Adderley, a member of BAMSI’s Board of Directors and the Institute’s farm co-ordinator, said its programme aligns with the Ministry of Agriculture’s food substitution/security initiative that focuses on encouraging more Bahamians to grow roots and tubers as part of the push to enhance this nation’s production.

Mr Adderley added that the plant material being shared with farmers was grown on BAMSI’s North Andros farm. He said that while there were at least six different varieties of cassava grown in The Bahamas, BAMSI is focusing on two local varieties, the BAH1 and BAH2, which have been grown for more than 60 years. While BAMSI grows a few Cuban varieties, more research data has to be gathered before it will consider distributing them to the farming community.

Each participating farmer has received around 300 sticks, and is expected to start with at least a tenth of an acre of plants. The expected yield is some 3,000 pounds of cassava in eight to nine months. The programme will then continue in two ways, with BAMSI distributing the cassava sticks and sweet potato slips on a regular basis over upcoming months.

The initiative will also move forward as each farmer invests in his/her own community. As the produce is harvested, it will increase the capacity of the farmer to plant cassava because a medium-sized tree can produce up to 100 sticks. Farmers will also be able to share plant material with others in their farming community.

Due to the challenges posed by COVID-19 and climate change, BAMSI said it was even more aware of the need for The Bahamas and its citizens to become less dependent on imported food. Besides existing commercial farmers, it added that backyard operations also have a significant role to play in this efforts.

“It took the Coronavirus to wake the country up regarding food security in The Bahamas,” Mr Adderley said. “Agricultural practices that involve root crops and grains would lend towards greater food security as compared to vegetables because you can readily store these items for weeks, and even months, with very little advance preparation.”

One of the cassava project's long-term goals is to tap into the growing interest in backyard farming, and support Bahamians who want to start the practice. "Sooner or later some may discontinue, but many will continue with the backyard farming when they realise how easy it is to grow [the cassava] and will continue with it over their lifetime," said Mr Adderley.

"Once you see the rewards it excites you, and it can become a hobby. BAMSI’s hope is that backyard farming will catch on in Nassau because it’s already done so to a great extent in the Family Islands, particularly those in the southern Bahamas."

Mr Adderley added that one of the reasons why cassava and sweet potato were chosen for the initiative was because neither requires a significant amount of effort to cultivate. He said cassavas planted during this time will not need irrigation methods to survive and thrive because the summer rain should be enough to produce a good crop, 15 to 20 pounds per tree, without irrigation.

And for farmers with limited space, the sweet potato and cassava root can be planted fairly close to one another. The sweet potato vines will run along the ground horizontally, while the cassava roots grow vertically, forming trees above ground.

Cassava is a nutritionally-dense food that contains complex carbohydrates, making it a good source of dietary fiber or roughage, vitamin C, thiamin, folic acid, manganese and potassium. The tuberous root can replace rice and Irish potatoes, and can be used to make flour, breads, fries, chips and tapioca. Some cultures also use it to make an alcoholic beverage and even laundry starch.

A nine-month crop, the cassava can be planted at any time of the year, although February through April is the optimum time. For the home gardener, the root requires a fairly good depth of soil or a mound of soil to be planted in. The planting material is obtained from cuttings from the mature plants.