Trinidad and Tobago Agriculture Ministry Runs Trials to Grow Irish Potatoes Locally
Trials are being done to see if one of the country’s most popular vegetables, the Irish potato, can successfully be grown in Trinidad and Tobago. Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Clarence Rambharat, shared photos via social media showing trials being done at the National Seed Bank in Chaguaramas. Rambharat said similar trials had been done in the 1980s.
“It was in the 1980’s that Caroni Limited undertook trials to produce locally grown Irish potatoes. They were unsuccessful. After a few years across various hurdles, early this morning I was at our National Seed Bank to witness the process being undertaken by staff of the National Seed Bank and Caribbean Chemicals Ltd for planting five Irish potato varieties on trial plots in Chaguaramas. In a few months we will see the results before moving on to larger plots.”
He said four varieties are being tested, and a similar trial is being undertaken with a private farmer in East Trinidad.
Irish potatoes are known as a ‘cool weather crop’, prefering cool weather in well-drained, loose soil between 7 – 13 degrees Celsius. Irish potatoes are also grown in Jamaica and Guyana.
