MINISTER within the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Alli Baksh, has encouraged farmers of Wakenaam Island to move into shade-house farming.The minister visited the island recently and told farmers at public meetings at Success and Marias Pleasure that shade-house farming would boost their income, because there is great demand for cash crops such as Pakchoy, cabbage, celery, eschallot, tomatoes and poi, all of which are grown under shade houses.

He also encouraged farmers to use the drip irrigation fertiliser method, which is very effective in shade-house farming.

Minister Baksh, moreover, encouraged farmers to use compost fertiliser to grow organic food for themselves. He said the island of Wakenaam is very fertile and is ideal for agriculture development; therefore residents must make full use of the land to cultivate crops on a large scale.

The minister said that Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, has already desilted many drainage and irrigation canals and trenches with an excavator machine, in order to improve drainage on the island.

Farmers who attended the meetings said the desilting of the canals and trenches will cause more lands to be put under cultivation, thus boosting the national Grow More Food drive.