Over fifty root crop and tuber producers recently gathered for an intensive four-day training workshop focused on the post-harvest handling of staple regional crops, specifically targeting dasheen, sweet potato, and yam.
The workshop, which began on Monday, June 15, 2026, at the Dumbarton Agricultural Station, is a key component of the “Strengthening Nutritious Value-chains in the Caribbean” project. This initiative is funded by the European Union and organized through a collaborative effort between the International Trade Center (ITC), the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Transformation.
Cindy Cathy Eugene, Project Coordinator for the EU-funded ITC Project, provided attendees with an overview of the entire process and outlined the expected outcomes of the initiative.
A major highlight of the four-day activity was a field trip to the Kingstown Port and a local supermarket. Dean Avril, General Agriculture Consultant with the ITC, emphasized the importance of this excursion, explaining that it exposed participants to real-world post-harvest conditions at the port, through plant quarantine, and at the supermarket level. The hands-on experience allowed producers to witness and appreciate how root crops are handled as they move along the value chain from the field directly to the consumer’s table.
In addition to post-harvest handling, the curriculum covered crucial agricultural protections. Martin Gaspard, a Crop Production Consultant with the ITC project, facilitated training on non-conventional methods for managing pests and diseases.
The comprehensive training officially concluded on Thursday, June 18, 2026, wrapping up with a practical, on-field demonstration of pest management techniques.