Survey Launched, Agriculture trying to harvest info on Backyard Farming

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer
 

#TurksandCaicos, April 26, 2023 – The Department of Agriculture is collecting information on the scale of backyard farming in the Turks and Caicos with a new survey aimed at those partaking in the practice. 

Residents will have to answer questions regarding their identity including names, addresses, and phone numbers.

Then, information on the type of backyard farm – be it fruit trees or animals, or both – is requested of the interviewee.  Also, necessary to answer are questions regarding the size of the farm, purpose of the crops and animals and whether farmers have interest in expanding.

Waste disposal is investigated as well with farmers asked to answer where they get rid of the refuse from their farms and where their irrigation comes from.

Residents can then state their interest in selling at the now well-established farmers market and detail the type of support they need from the Department.

The survey is about ten minutes long and the department says the information will be used to support formation of a backyard farmers’ database and communicate more effectively with backyard farmers ultimately improving their production and efficiency.