Rushea, St James – Some farmers from the Rushea community in southern St James are making their mark on agricultural production in the parish, through a scotch bonnet pepper project.

The 14 farmers have received assistance through the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) Ridge to Reef environmental project, for the establishment of the pepper-growing venture.

In an interview with JIS News, chairman of the Production and Marketing Task Force with the Ridge to Reef project, Sadie Dixon, pointed out that the farmers had been assisted with all the necessary inputs, inclusive of seeds and tanks for the storage of water for irrigation purposes.

She noted that each farmer had been given responsibility for one hectare of the crop, adding that the results had been encouraging.

“We are trying to get them to basically produce those peppers organically, and with minimum amount of fertiliser and pesticide use, so far, I can say that the project has been successful,” she said. “So far we have been supplying exporters, the hotels and the local market with peppers.”

With the level of success being experienced with the project so far, the chairman added, consideration was being given to expanding it, this year, to include other crops. She said that the most likely crops to be added would be vegetables, as there was a ready market for these within the hotel sector.

Dixon pointed out that with the farmers of the Mafoota area of the parish likely to form a registered co-operative very soon, the farmers of Rushea were also giving consideration to becoming a part of that co-operative.