Agriculture & Environment Committee
Annual Progress Report, 2005

This report summarizes the activities of the Agriculture and Environment Committee and includes commentary on actions recommended at the DAAS Planning Meeting in Buffalo, Feb 28, 2004

Members:

Clayton Shillingford, Chair

- Assistant(Vacant)
- Dr Henry Fagan, Member
- Dr Edmund Tavernier, Member
- Ronald Charles, Member
- Dr Osmond Baron, Member
- Dr Gilda Benjamin, Member
- Kelvin Alie, Member
- Dr J.E. Edmunds,Honorary Member
- J Davison Shillingford, Project Leader, Botanic Gardens

Activities and Projects:

Clemson University & ATREI

The relationship between DAAS and Clemson University’s ATREI (Archbold Tropical Research & Education Institute) continues. ATREI has established a satellite dish for distance learning at Springfield Estate. DAAS Agriculture Committee has facilitated discussion between a Government Team composed of officers from the Departments of Agriculture, Forestry, Education, ECU (Environmental Coordinating Unit) to see how collaborative projects can be initiated including US AID support for joint research with Ross University in nutraceuticals and phytomedicine.  DAAS proposed and submitted a draft MOU to define the relationship between ATREI and the Government but up to time of writing it is not known if it has been finalized.

Clemson/ATREI held comprehensive meetings in 2005 with all interested parties to see how the Springfield Facility could be improved to meet the stated wishes of the benefactor, Mr Archbold, for the resource to be used for biological and environmental research and education purposes.

Guest Lectures

The guest lecture series at the DSC (Dominica State College) and elsewhere continues to include lectures in all relevant fields including agriculture and the environment. In 2004,  there were three lectures ,the first was by Dr Merle Shephard, Clemson University on new methods of biological control of pests. The second by Dr  Bob DiFilipps, Smithsonian Institute on the “Ornamental and Medicinal Plants of Dominica” was given at the DSC and to a wider audience of environmentalists at the UWI Center.  Dr Di Filipps who passed away recently is the author of “Useful Plants of the Commonwealth of Dominica”. Several copies of his book were obtained and distributed to the Roseau Public Library, Forestry Dept etc.(Dr De Filipps’ brother, Willard De Filipps,  has donated the five plots of land his brother owned in Dominica to DAAS)

The third lecture at the DSC was given by our own Ronald Charles on crop production and land utilization.

We plan to continue the series when we have agricultural and other Dominican or non-Dominican visitors to the island.

The Smithsonian Institute

Under the Bredin-Archbold –Smithsonian Biological Survey of Dominica, scientists from the Smithsonian Institute conducted a series of extensive studies on the flora and fauna of Dominica. A substantial number of these publications which were in the archives of the Smithsonian have been obtained from Dr Dan Nicolson. These publications cover studies on archeology, limnology,  (relationship between living organisms and bodies of fresh water) of streams, hot springs and lakes; bats; barnacles; insects (pollinators, other beneficial insects, pests); mountain chicken (Leptodactylus fallax).

Dr Nicolson also provided to the Chair several copies of his publication “Flora of Dominica” which have been distributed to the DSC, Forestry Dept etc

As a consequence of the Chair’s relationship with scientific colleagues at the Smithsonian Institution DAAS continues to receive both the Smithsonian Magazine and the “Plant Press”, a botanical periodical from the Department of Botany & the US National Herbarium. Smithsonian Dr Dan Nicolson has been a resource botanist as we built the Botanic Gardens website.

Visits

DAAS has been contacted by a number of persons planning to visit Dominica.

Greg Rushford, editor of a monthly newsletter on international trade politics has visited Dominica to write about the issues re preferential treatment for the Windward Islands Banana Industry. The Chair was interviewed by Rushford prior to his planned visits to the UK and Dominica. We recommended that Rushford discuss the issues with the Windward Islands High Commissioners and WIBDECO (Windward Islands Banana Development Co) in UK. We continue to maintain contact with Rushford. He attended the WTO meeting in Hong Kong and the Chair will visit with him in Virginia next week to discuss his perspectives on the outcome of the WTO negotiations

Dominica Botanic Gardens

DAAS Gardens Committee continues work on the website for the Dominica Botanic Gardens, the first of its kind in the Caribbean (click here).  Among other features, the site gives the history of the Gardens, panoramic views, Gardens activities, and descriptions of numerous interesting plants in the Gardens. We now have detailed descriptions and photographs of more than 50 plants, and we continue to add more. To build the site further and make it more informative, we are seeking good photos of plants, activities and views in the Gardens, preferably digital photos.   Dr Dave Shillingford is coordinator of the project with assistance from the Chair, Dr Clayton Shillingford and webmaster, Raglan Riviere

Blows Agro Products

DAAS personnel (Drs Thomson Fontaine, and Clayton Shillingford and Gabriel Christian) have provided loan funds to Blows Agro Products to enable the operation to obtain a more efficient drier to process their teas. Progress to establish Blows on a more corporate and business like basis has been slow.

Diversified Fruit Products

Dr Osmond Baron suggested that the production of exotic fruits such as mangosteen, sugar apple should be encouraged as part of the fruit basket for both locals and visitors/tourists. He also proposed biological control of fruit flies affecting mangoes, guavas etc by releasing male sterile flies. He needs to follow up with local authorities on the feasibility of these projects. The potential partnership between agriculture and tourism was promoted at an AgroTourism Workshop, October 2005 organized by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.

NAYA plans to focus on passion fruit among other fruits in order to develop a niche  market and for agroprocessing. They want to start in various areas around Dominica with the yellow passion fruit particularly because it was recommended by the Extension Staff of the Ministry of Agriculture, its sugar content and higher yield than the purple variety.

Advisory/Consultancies

DAAS agriculturists continue to collaborate with various organizations and programs on the island. The Ministry of Agriculture & Environment has released its Corporate Plan. An ad hoc group (Drs Donnie Robinson and Clayton Shillingford, Athie Martin and Colin Bully) was formed through consultation with the Minister of Agriculture, Hon Ambrose George to advise and assist the Government on implementation. In that context Dr Eddie Edmunds, former St Lucian Ambassador to the US and also former Director of Research, WINBAN and the Chair, former Director of Research, Jamaica Banana Board presented proposals to the Windward Island Governments for the resuscitation of banana production in the islands. To date we have had only one response of interest from the Prime Minister of St Lucia.

DAAS continues consultations with NAYA (National Association of Youth in Agriculture) on their programs of work to develop greenhouse projects for production of  vegetables and to encourage more of the youth to pursue careers in agriculture.

Consultations are ongoing for the improvement of seed supplies and meristem plantlet development both in the context of collaboration with CARDI (Caribbean Agricultural Research & Development Institute) to see how such techniques and technologies can be advanced to connect NAYA and the DSC to better agricultural techniques and agronomic procedures.

OID (Oceanographic Institute of Dominica)

Dr Shillingford continues to provide guidance and advice to OID on a voluntary basis. OID grows corals in tanks for export to Europe and US for use in aquaria. Future plans are to reseed reefs that have been degraded by storms and coral bleaching, and to restore fishing grounds. UN pays credits for projects in environmental protection or restoration. To my knowledge, our institutions responsible for environmental protection such as the Forestry, Fisheries Divisions and the Environmental Coordinating Unit have not accessed these benefits.

Dr John McMillin, CEO, Land & Water Resources International has visited Dominica with the assistance of DAAS Ag Committee Chair to investigate the feasibility of aquaculture and micro fish farms. (LWRI/OID are the same groups that quickly responded to DAAS request for assistance when the medical stores burnt down. They were able to ship a  40ft container to PMH with medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, value US$1.2 million in response to the emergency).

.Dr McMillin has now taken up position as Research Director of OID. In 2005 initial experiments were successfully conducted on tilapia production and plans are afoot to expand into shrimp production and oceanographic and marine studies. (Contacts were made with Shillingford Estates, Dominica Coconut Products, and Kubuli Brewery to find sources of protein, and other ingredients for the fish feed). Cadets and other youth groups are expected to have opportunities for study within these disciplines and through collaboration with DSC and Ross University.

OID has been on Government land in Picard for an extended period of time (7 years) without a formal lease that would give the investors the confidence to move forward. Besides much effort by Dr Shillingford, Mr. Joffrey Harris, recommended attorney for the group, they have not been able to get a lease. The absence of the lease has constrained future planning for fish farming, development of joint institute with DAAS and DSC for marine biology studies, diving training for the Cadet Corps, Carib community etc..

Spices

Bay oil and vanilla fetch good prices on the world markets. Attempts to encourage improvements in bay oil distillation and waste leaf composting and vanilla production by introducing appropriate technologies did not materialize because of lack of follow up by local institutions.(e.g. Dominica Essential Oils and Spices Coop)  The technical feasibility for composting was demonstrated by experts from Colombia where the composting practice has developed into a significant business.

Dominica Biodiversity Capacity Project

Dominica is a signatory to several international conventions including the (UNEP) United Nations Environmental Programme “Convention on Biological Diversity.” Dominica completed the first phase of its study on “Biodiversity Strategy & Action Plan” The second phase project was to evaluate capacity issues and to provide recommendations for improvement.

Dr Clayton Shillingford was employed as International Consultant(IC) on the project. That contract was terminated before completion by the Ministry of Agriculture on the advice of the ECU and the Steering Committee for that project.

To date, Dr Shillingford has not been compensated contrary to the pro rata payment terms of the contract to which Dr Colmore Christian, then P.S had agreed to. All local consultants were paid even when reports submitted to Dr Shillingford were unedited, cut and paste and were not complete. Reports were to be vetted for quality by Ms Congit Gabriel/Pascal prior to compilation by the International Consultant. She failed, in the opinion of the IC, to do an adequate job.

Biotechnology

There was a plan to bring Dr John Kilama, President, Global Bioscience Development Institute based in Wilmington  to Dominica during the past summer of 2005 to discuss opportunities in phytomedicine and biotechnology. That plan has been postponed to 2006.

Meristem Plantlet Production

Attempts to establish a meristem plantlet and general Ag support lab is still on the table. Some limited progress has been made in supply by bringing plants in from outside but local production has not yet been realized. As a first step the Banana Insidustry Trust has been allocated some funds to ramp up production of banana meristem plantlets and has solicited groups to take up the offer of commercial production. The writer will follow up with Dr Greg Robin, CARDI, who has done work in this area.

Cadet Corps

Discussions have been initiated to get the Cadet Corps to enter small farm production to supply foodstuffs to market and to promote agricultural education. Offers of small plots of land have been made and sources of vegetable seeds were identified. This effort will require collaboration between the Cadet Corps and NAYA and IICA (Inter-American Institute of Science & Agriculture) in order to develop farming skills.

Information sharing

Information was shared with Forestry Division on wildlife problems, which involved “feasting” of birds and agoutis on crops such as oranges, peppers and tannias. The situation was serious enough to result in farmers killing parrots, a protected bird species under CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna)

Manure worm

Ronald Charles was able to provide information on the manure or compost worm. CARDI expressed an interest in using that species of worm for composting to take care of garbage and to assist in waste management. From research it was determined that there was not much expectation of an economic benefit in going in that direction. The most successful strategy has been education and recycling programs.

Other Projects

Dr Edmund Tavernier offered to help with planning projects and programs for the Agriculture and Environment Committee including the writing of grant proposals.

We await response from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Prime Unit.

Some interest was expressed in using the neem tree for a variety of purposes including biologicals for insect control. Several parts of the plant, roots, stems, leaves, blossoms., are edible by animals, and the oils and tannins can be converted to useful biochemicals. The tree is also said to offer very cooling shade. The Botanic Gardens website features a specimen of that tree.

Submitted by Dr Clayton A. Shillingford, Chair, DAAS Agriculture & Environment Committee.