St Kitts and Nevis achieves historic milestone with planting of first tabasco pepper seedlings

The Ministry of Agriculture of St Kitts and Nevis marked a historic milestone with the planting of the First of its kind Tabasco Pepper seedlings. This remarked advancement took place at Fahies Estate Newton Ground on Wednesday, 6^th November, 2024 and was done to promote sustainability and self-dependency in agricultural sector.

This planting is part of the TABASCO Pepper Experimental Plot project. This project was conducted in collaboration between the Government of St Kitts and Nevis and the internationally known TABASCO Brand.

The Ministry of Agriculture of St Kitts and Nevis said that their partnership with TABASCO Brand will play a significant role in advancing the agricultural sector of the island nation. They even said that this development is crucial for advancing their Sustainable Economic Expansion and Diversification (SEED) initiative.

Therefore, the SEED initiative is a forward- thinking government program whose main motive is to shift the dependency of the island nation away from the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme to sustainable agriculture and local food production.

The authorities also discussed the importance of this initiative and stated that they are here to take the agricultural sector to greater heights. The Ministry said that with the help of this SEED initiative, they are making every possible effort to reduce their reliance on external income sources.

They reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen their food security and enhance the overall economic conditions of the island nation.

Moreover, this groundbreaking ceremony was attended by several delegates including, Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, Dr. Terrance Drew, Minister of Agriculture, Samal Duggins, farmers and other members.

The Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, Dr Terrance Drew shed light on this initiative and stated that they are looking forward to increase their overall agricultural productivity. He added that it would play a huge role in creating large number of job opportunities and will address the unemployment gap in the country, enhancing the economic conditions.

PM Drew stated that they are making continuous efforts to create a robust economy in the island nation with a vision to tackle all the uncertain or global challenges in future.

He stated that this new project will play a great role as no other crop has been exported in large quantities since the 1700’s to replace sugar.

The Prime Minister said that they are looking to reap a spicy and profitable harvest of about 50 thousand lbs of Tabasco pepper mash from the first 10 acres of the experimental plot.