The Cape Verdean Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MAA) will provide 58 million escudos (526 thousand euros) for this year’s agricultural campaign, in which it expects good production, especially in the southern islands of the country, it was announced at the end of last week.
The amount was advanced by the president of the National Institute for Agricultural Research and Development (INIDA), Nora Silva, at a press conference in Praia, to present the forecasts for the 2023-2024 campaign.
The director general of Agriculture, Forestry and Livestock, Eneida Rodrigues, said, in turn, that the preparation of the campaign began, as traditionally, at the beginning of the year, with the balance of the implementation of the previous one and the quantification of needs for the one now starting.
For this year, the MAA has available 57,683 forest and fruit plants, 350,000 sweet potato and cassava cuttings, which will be made available to farmers at a symbolic price.
Also, 3,045 kilos of different seed species will be made available to the counties with the greatest need.
Regarding pests, the same source said that the ministry has available pesticides, materials and equipment to deal with possible pests and, as in recent years, will favor biological pesticides, to preserve the environment.
As for the caterpillar, the president of INIDA stressed that it is a difficult pest to predict, but the Cape Verdean authorities have invested in integrated control methods, especially biological control, which are more efficient.