Mr. James made this announcement during his presentation at the Department of Agriculture’s Annual Review and Planning Meeting held at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort on February 26 under the theme “Creating Partnership and Linkages for Sustainable Agriculture.”
Agronomist in the St. Kitts Department of Agriculture’s Plant Propagation Unit, Paul Benjamin, said the reason for experimenting with Canadian red apples is “we want to see if temperate crops could grow in the tropical climate of St. Kitts and Nevis.”
Director James had high hopes that the fruit acclimatization experiment will bear fruit. “We are now in the process of collecting the Canadian apple, and yes it will grow,” he said. “If you know how to handle it, it will bear apples.”
“We are looking forward in the next couple of years to be able to eat locally grown red apples,” Mr. James said.
The experiment with growing the Canadian red apple tree began in May of 2019. The tree was planted at the Department of Agriculture’s Needsmust farm and is growing healthily. It is expected to bear fruit in five years.
