Agricultural research building officially inaugurated   |21 October 2022

● Better facilities with better comfort for staff

Completed in February this year, the agricultural research building was officially inaugurated yesterday at Anse Boileau as part of activities of the food week.

The unveiling of the commemorative plaque was done by Minister for Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment Flavien Joubert and Pierre Young, the longest-serving officer of the station who has also reached retirement age.

The event was attended by Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) elected member of the National Assembly for Anse Boileau Phillip Arrisol, chairman of the Farmers’ Association and other stakeholders.

This was followed by a song interpreted by students of the Seychelles Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture accompanied by Alain Melanie. Three trees were planted by Minister Joubert, principal secretary for agriculture Keven Nancy and Mr Young to mark this much-awaited occasion.

Speaking about the importance of this building, Minister Joubert said research increases productivity and sustainability.

“This remains a fundamental priority of the agriculture department. Since it is a key factor which determines the potential of our smallholder farmers in meeting the food requirements of our country, improve income and livelihoods, reduce vulnerability to external shocks, enhance economic growth, it develops and introduces new technologies, inputs, and techniques of production and enhances resilience to emerging challenges,” said Minister Joubert.

He further added that the success of the station has been the generation of new technologies, the facilitation of farmers' access to irrigation water, and recommendations for new varieties of crops, pest, nutrients and water management and continued collaboration with other stakeholders, both nationally and internationally.

This has facilitated staff training both locally and internationally, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) fellowship and expert visits, Indian Ocean Commission regional collaboration for trials through PRPV project, Cirad - improvement of propagation method, to name just a few.

PS Nancy noted that this unit has known five directors including him. “The unit mainly works on researches and new equipment to assist the farmers in their daily activities. We have various sections with specific mandate to be able to help and guide the farmers and students when necessary. There is a crop section where vegetables and fruits will be screened and tested. The benefits of the new building are to mainly enhance staff welfare and comfort and to improve the image of agriculture to entice young graduates to join the sector,” said PS Nancy.

As for principal agricultural scientist Roy Govinden, he explained that the new building will house mainly offices of different units involved in research work.

“It is mainly a facility for staff as before we were sharing a small space and the building was quite old. There was a necessity for renovation. The building also has a conference room where we will meet the farmers. There are currently 35 staff and we really hope that this will boost the morale of our current staff and encourage more youths to join the agricultural sector,” said Mr Govinden.

The agriculture department has embarked on a number of programmes and projects which are now showing results in some areas and they include improving farmers’ access to irrigation water through the successful Val d’Andorre irrigation system and now work is starting on the Bon Espoir irrigation system for Anse Boileau and Hermitage farmers.

Around the building, plants were on sale and many locals drove early to buy the local food such as sweet potatoes, cassava, bilenbi, bananas, nouga, katkat and also loads of plants selling from R25 to R50.

People can get their plants from the nursery at Anse Boileau from Monday to Thursday from 7.30am to 2.30pm.

Vidya Gappy

Photos Louis Toussaint