The Ministry of Agriculture is reporting promising results from irish potato trials being conducted across Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, with the community of Montreal emerging as a standout location.

Speaking at one of the trial sites in Montreal, Research Officer Ruthvin Harper told the Agency for Public Information, API, that the Montreal plants produced an impressive 12 to 13 tubers per plant — more than double the average in other areas.

He attributes this success to the quality of the soil in the area, calling the harvest significant for the ongoing trials.

"At this particular field what we are noticing the number of tubers per plant its quite significantly higher than the North Leeward Zone. That's one of the main things we are having here so far right up to twelve (12), thirteen (13) tubers per plant and that's quite significant while in the other areas we have three, four, five, six that is significant.  But what one of the things that I am noticing here even within the individual plots, how the soil were prepared, you were seeing that when we have softer the deeper you prepared the soil you were seeing a higher yield. So, one of the things that we are looking at definitely is going to have to well-prepared soil and then that would take care of basically other things."

Harper notes the performance of the two Irish potato varieties grown in the trials across different agricultural zones in the country.

He observes the significant differences based on location, noting that these insights are essential for guiding future planting strategies, ultimately aiming to enhance yield consistency and bolster the country’s food security.

"Because as we say there are different agricultural zones, so this could be one of the reasons. Apart from that every other thing remain constant so its just the area that's different. Well in Belle Isle we can say that the Desiree did better than the Spunta. In Rose Hall the Spunta did better than the Desiree. In hermitage Spunta also did better than Desiree and here I am seeing it basically on par fifty (50) there are quite some large tubers and quite some small tubers. I think in Montreal we can basically say we are on a fifty-fifty (50/50)"

SOURCE: National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC Radio)