Hillsborough Horticultural Center opens

Agriculture officials here are expressing high hopes that the newly established Hillsborough Horticultural Center (HHC) will play a key role in the repositioning and development of agriculture in Dominica. Formerly known as the Hillsborough Agricultural Station, the new facility was officially opened earlier this morning (at a ceremony in Hillsborough. Claudia Bellot, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, told the gathering the Center “will serve to fulfill the goals of the cooperation agreement in agriculture between the government of Dominica and People’s Republic of China.” These include the cultivation of new and improved vegetable, fruit and flower cultivars, new and improved production techniques and fruiting technology, green house technology including double film planting, improved seedling production, soil sterilization methods and use of irrigation technology to include micro sprinklers and drip irrigation.

The HHC is being developed by the Chinese Technical Mission as part of a ‘technical cooperation in agriculture’ between China and Dominica. This morning’s launching marks phase one of this project. Under phase two, due to commence shortly, the project will seek to improve laboratory and training facilities at Hillsborough and develop the sector’s capacity to develop and secure quality genetic material. According to Bellot, “the objective of the technical cooperation programme is an important one for the Ministry of Agriculture as [government] seeks to improve the agricultural sector and facilitate growth to enhance [its] contribution to the economy and well being of the stakeholders of the sector especially farmers.” This programme of cooperation in agriculture forms part of the MOU between Dominica and China which was signed in March of 2005.