CHARLESTOWN, Nevis — The Department of Agriculture on Nevis will resume its Fresh Vegetable Market on January 15 at the Marketing Unit in Charlestown.

“The initiative, which started in November 2020, has been well received by members of the public,” said Randy Elliott, Director of Agriculture in the Department of Agriculture in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) 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 start again.

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

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

“We want to ensure that people have access to healthy foods,” explained Elliott. “At the Marketing Unit we consolidate food from farmers around the island and sell various produce at very cheap prices. We understand that due to the COVID-19 pandemic people don’t have the resources they had before. We are 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.

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 potatoes and pumpkins.

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

On Friday, January 15, the Marketing Unit will sell tomatoes at $2.50 per pound; pumpkins at $2.50; sweet potatoes at $3.50; green papayas at $3.00; seasoning peppers at $5.00; green bananas at $2.00; string beans at $3.00; and sorrel at $10.00 per parcel.

The Department of Agriculture’s Fresh Vegetable Market will be open from 9 a.m. to 12 noon.

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