THE Ministry of Agriculture’s diversification programme is a proven success as East Berbice-Corentyne farmer Rawle Medford has been harvesting hundreds of pounds of onions since receiving training and assistance.

Medford, 43-years old, received training in onion cultivation from Promotion of Regional Opportunities for Produce through Enterprise and Linkages (PROPEL) and the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) last year.

He was all smiles recently when he experienced success for a second time in his harvest of 114 pounds (52 kg) of fresh onions in the varieties of Texas Early Grano; Yellow F1 Granex and Red Creole.

The Ministry’s diversification programme targets crops that are imported but which can be grown locally, in an effort to reduce imports and save on foreign exchange.

In 2018, Medford harvested 450 pounds (204 kg) of onions in the Mercedes and Superex varieties which he supplied to local supermarkets.

Hailing from Phillipi Village, the man has been a farmer all his life, investing mostly in watermelon, sweet pepper and boulanger, but now plans to include onions to his line of crops since there is a lucrative market available.

In a release to the media, NAREI noted that the onions were harvested four months after transplanting and, based on the yield obtained, their production efficiency is on par with established onion producers.

The objective of the programmme is to test tropical varieties of red and white onions that are adaptable to Guyana’s climatic conditions and soil types and recommend suitable varieties for commercial production.

Planting materials and technical support were provided by NAREI through the Institute’s research scientist, Tracy Persaud and team.

Meanwhile, it has been announced that similar efforts are being replicated in Regions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10 and are to be scaled up to larger acreages.