FARMERS in Hanover now have a sure market for all their dasheen, cassava, breadfruit, and plantain, as the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), through its factory in the parish, now utilises these ground provisions in its thriving non-traditional ‘chips’ business.

In addition, RADA has also collaborated with the 4-H Club to make at least 52 by-products from dasheen alone.

The products are said to be well received by a number of people, some of whom reportedly expressed surprise at the innovative use of these foods, which are sometimes not readily embraced by many Jamaicans.

The 52 dasheen by-products included a wedding fruit cake, cucumber dip, relish, hot and spicy ketchup, dasheen bread and flour, among others.

Ridley Badresingh, acting parish manager of RADA, said that almost 80 per cent of the dasheen by-products were being sold on the market.

“For the other products not on the market, we can take off with any of them right now if we get an order,” he said. “.For example, although the dasheen hot pepper sauce is not yet on the market, if we can get a market for it we can go into mass production right away,” he added.

And while RADA currently does not export these products overseas themselves, Badresingh said the agency sells to exporters who do.

The dasheen chips, which is a hallmark of the by-products, is also now available on most Air Jamaica flights, under the RADA logo.

“RADA is into income generating and this is our parish’s method of generating income and we have been doing very well for ourselves,” Badresingh told the Observer.

The factory, located at Haughton Court, Lucea, began operations in 1991 out of a room where the chips were fried in huge Dutch pots.

The operations were subsequently expanded, using modern equipment for peeling, frying and packaging the chips. There are also plans for further expansion as business booms.

Although the operation provides direct employment for three persons, Badresingh said it is a sure source of income for many farmers in the parish.

“It makes sense to us to have the farmers in the parish grow enough to supply us because when we do that it is less costly for us than if we had to go outside to buy it,” he said.

He said farmers would also be encouraged to increase the amount of dasheen they farm, so that RADA can increase its chips output, given the success rate on the market.

The dasheen chips, which is sold for $30 per pack, has been competing effectively with the traditional banana and plantain chips, according to Badresingh, who said consumers who were a bit skeptical at first have warmed up to the new product.

Meanwhile, Tanya Robinson, home economics assistant at RADA, said they factory processes up to 2,000 kilograms of dasheen, cassava, breadfruit and plantain each month to make the chips.