Pineapple Progress at Cades Bay

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), with support from the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has transplanted an additional 5,000 tissue culture pineapple plants at the Cades Bay Agricultural Station, bringing the total to 10,000.

These plantlets are not intended for fruit production at this stage. Instead, each will produce 5–6 suckers that will be used as planting material to support future fruit cultivation at the station and for distribution to farmers across Antigua and Barbuda.

The station is currently facing challenges with roaming animals due to a damaged perimeter fence, which has delayed intercropping efforts. The animals avoid pineapple plants, however, they feed on other crops used in rotation. Despite this, operators report the project remains on track and are hopeful the fencing issue will be resolved soon.