ALNESS Village Region Six, (East Berbice/Corentyne), and Moraikobai settlement in the Mahaicony Creek in Region Five (Demerara/Mahaica) will soon have their promised sorrel seedlings to commence medium and large scale farming of the rarely locally grown fruit. The communities were promised the sorrel seedlings by Dr. Faith Harding during several meetings held in the respective communities in May and June respectively.
Dr. Harding, who runs the Faith Harding Quick Impact Programme (QIP), has been assisting several villages across the country to get involved in community activities, especially farming, as it will assist them to become economically viable.
Following a commitment by the National Agriculture Research & Extension Institute (NAREI), under the direction of Dr. Udho Homenauth, for assistance in germinating the seedlings, the QIP was handed just over 3000 sorrel seedlings, each measuring approximately nine inches, by Dr Homenauth on Friday last.
A few months ago, the Community of Alness got together and pooled their resources in the form of land and manpower to form a committee to cultivate approximately 16 acres of land. While poultry rearing is among their activities, the group expressed an interest in getting involved in sorrel cultivation as its main focus, since the community has the soil to support that enterprise.
Like Alness, the Amerindian community of Moraikobai also has ideal soil for cultivating sorrel plants, and this was conveyed to Dr. Harding during her visit to the community sometime ago. The residents had invited Dr. Harding and her team into the area for a meeting when they expressed their concerns and needs, and sought help in making their community a bit more economically viable.
In May, the residents had asked for a week’s grace period to decide among themselves the best way forward, and to determine what they can possibly do with their land in the area of productivity. It was then decided that sorrel was going to be one of their focal areas, as they had committed farmers in the person of men and women who are willing to work together to get the initiative off the ground.
The residents had indicated to the Guyana Chronicle during that same visit that one of their difficulties was getting their produce out to market in a timely manner. They had expressed concern that the trail is nearly impassable whenever it rains for extended periods.
Moraikobai residents see sorrel cultivation as a viable option, since the fruit is durable, especially once half dried.
On Friday last, after receiving the first set of seedlings from NAREI, the Faith Harding Quick Impact Programme transported them to Long Creek, Linden/Soesdyke Highway, where a sorrel project spearheaded by Dr Harding is also ongoing.
The QIP is reporting that twelve sorrel plants used as an experiment earlier in the year have already begun to bear fruit, which QIP describes as fascinating.
Dr. Harding reminded that at the moment there is no scientific data available on sorrel in Guyana, and that NAREI is using the exercise as an opportunity to document all stages of the planting of sorrel on a large-scale basis.
In addition to assistance from NAREI in germinating the seeds, the Faith Harding Quick Impact Programme received from a firm in Mexico a promised gift of 1.5 kilogrammes of sorrel seeds. The QIP team and the Mexican firm have agreed that, once reaped, all the fruit would be sold to the Mexican firm, as there is a perpetual need for sorrel in that country.
Dr. Harding expressed excitement over the ready market for the first crop that will be shipped off to Mexico later this year.