MAY PEN, (JIS):
REPRESENTATIVES OF the Sugar Industry Research Institute (SIRI), in an attempt to improve production among cane farmers, recently demonstrated a manure spreader to farmers in southern Clarendon.
The demonstration took place at a farm in Comfort.
Clarence Fearon, a nutrition agronomist at SIRI, explained that the demonstration incorporated the use of poultry litter to show sugar cane farmers how to efficiently use resources at their disposal.
"This mechanical means is very beneficial to cane farmers who are also chicken farmers and who can access poultry manure free. Many of the farmers have not been utilising their poultry litter for boosting yields even though its benefits have been determined through field experiments since the late 1960s," he said.
He added that the spreader was particularly helpful in eliminating some of the difficulty experienced in spreading organic fertiliser, including high odour and the need to apply larger quantities than was done with inorganic fertiliser.
The SIRI agronomist mentioned that while it takes approximately 7.75 man hours for a person to fertilise an hectare of land, the spreader could complete the hectare in 1.75 hours. He also mentioned that the current cost of acquiring the equipment (US$2,500) could be recovered in approximately two years.
