"hunan watermelon" was served at the bahamas cabinet meeting. hunan and the bahamas cooperated in growing watermelons and achieved a good harvest in the bahamas
2024-09-24
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hunan daily omnimedia reporter zhou yiheng
"hunan watermelon is so delicious!" recently, the watermelon varieties selected from hunan for the bahamas by the hunan-bahamas agricultural cooperation project have been harvested in the bahamas. at the cabinet meeting chaired by philip davis, the prime minister and minister of finance of the bahamas, jomo campbell, the minister of agriculture and marine resources, brought the harvested watermelons into the meeting and tasted them with the cabinet members, which won unanimous praise from everyone.
(on september 17, bahamas prime minister and finance minister philip davis (left) and minister of agriculture and marine resources jomo campbell held up the harvested watermelons. photo by correspondent)
the bahamas is located on the west coast of the atlantic ocean, with a total land area (including waters) of 259,000 square kilometers and a population of 402,000. it has a thriving tourism industry and a developed financial industry, making it one of the wealthier countries in the caribbean. however, the country's agricultural production capacity is weak, with agricultural output accounting for only about 0.4% of its gdp. the annual amount of food imports reaches more than us$1 billion, of which fresh fruits and vegetables account for about 10% of food.
on may 19, 2023, the signing ceremony of the implementation agreement of the hunan-bahamas agricultural cooperation project was held in nassau, the capital of the bahamas, marking a new journey of agricultural cooperation between the two places. the project is implemented by hunan linshi agricultural service co., ltd., and will improve the level of agricultural development in the bahamas through trial planting, screening and promotion of excellent fruit and vegetable varieties, technical training and promotion, etc.
in order to enrich the "vegetable basket" of the bahamian people, project team experts sowed watermelon seeds brought from hunan in the steel greenhouse base on june 21. "in view of the local coral rock lime soil, thin soil layer, high content of sand and gravel, and weak water and fertilizer retention capacity, we successfully improved the soil and retained moisture by applying a large amount of self-made em bacteria biological organic fertilizer," said tang renkai, leader of the project team.
(tang renkai, leader of the bahamas agricultural cooperation project team of hunan linshi agricultural service co., ltd., and local farm workers hold up the harvested watermelons. photo by the correspondent)
through reasonable water and fertilizer management, pest and disease control, vine pruning and branching, on september 16, the two watermelon varieties selected in the test had a bumper harvest, with an equivalent yield of 5,300 kilograms and 4,330 kilograms per mu respectively. "the watermelons are juicy, high in sugar content, thin in skin and crisp, reaching the best yield potential of the varieties." tang renkai said that before this, all watermelons in the bahamas were imported, with thick skin, light taste, insufficient juice, and no guarantee of freshness. "now people ask me every day for 'hunan watermelons', and it is really impossible to meet everyone's needs." he said with a smile.
in the rainy season when the temperature is hot and pests and diseases are serious, agricultural experts from hunan worked together with local people to grow sweet and juicy watermelons on the barren land of bahamas, which attracted widespread attention. the ministry of agriculture and marine resources of the bahamas specially produced videos and took pictures for this purpose and posted them on facebook and other platforms. netizens gave thumbs up and comments, saying it was "incredible" and "amazing".
tang renkai said that the next step will be to expand the watermelon planting area, and carry out variety promotion and planting training in pakistani farms to help pakistan reduce its dependence on imported food and allow more hunan agricultural new technologies and new varieties to benefit local people.
