ORGANIC GROWERS AND CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION OF BARBADOS
Troy Cumberbatch - Healthy Harvest
phone # 258 2158 - email: troy.cumberbatch@gmail.com
Getting to know the Farm
Location
St. Andrew, Savannah Road, Shorey Village
Background and history of the farm
Troy took over his family’s 3 acre farm a year ago, after studying chemistry at UWI. He wants to turn his farm into a profitable business, to eventually have minimum labor and costs of maintenance. In his opinion, organic farming is the best way to achieve those goals.
Kinds of produce
chicken (eggs), sheep (meat), pigs (meet and breeding), cantaloupe, watermelons, okra, cassava
Where can you find his products
Cheapside, different retailers for the meat, and restaurants
Why organic farming?
Organic farming is the most cost-effective because you can minimize your inputs by reusing and sharing resources with what is available on-site. With low costs of maintenance, Troy believes this is the best way to be profitable.
Challenges
Besides the several pests and animals which threaten the garden, Troy mentions that having access to credit, and finding markets with a good price for his products, are the most difficult aspects of his business.
Special practices
Troy uses his skills of chemist to create vinegar from the fermentation of fruits, to use in the garden as a weeding agent. He also makes his own compost tea. You can contact him for more information on his methods.
Contact
phone # 258 2158 - email: troy.cumberbatch@gmail.com
Fertilizing method
uses chicken manure and bagasse from the sugar cane
Pest methods
Built a fence around his crops against the monkeys but was not effective. Against caterpillars, he uses the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) which has shown successful results and is allowed in organic practices. He also uses neem extract for other insects.
Special practices/tips
He cover crops his empty beds with buckwheat which improve the phosphorus content of the soil. When the buckwheat is mature, cut it, and turn it into a foliar spray for the other crops. Troy noticed that in general, crops planted near the edges of the garden grow better, probably due to the presence of bushes and tall plants around the plot. Thus, he created rows of cassava every 10 beds, to create shade and windbreak for the surrounding crops. Those are intercropped with okra and melons, because those crops don’t use the same vegetation layer and thus don’t compete among each other. Plus, the okra attracts spider which is a good predator of the white butterfly.