The New Face of Agriculture on St. Croix

Commissioner Positive Terrance Nelson is the Commissioner of Agriculture for the US Virgin Islands. He brings his leadership skills to this department stemming from his many years of experience as a Senator with the VI Legislature in the territory.

The US territory imports a whopping 97% of their food so one of his main goals is to make the islands more food sovereign. The department established many programs available to the big farmers as well as the backyard farmers which include land prep, land management, and even hemp farming.

January 10, 2021

He mentioned the rise in interest in local produce since the pandemic and the Saturday markets in the new locations have been extremely successful.

Positive speaks of the need for processing plants that would add value to the crop. Currently, when we have excess, especially with fruit like mangoes, they go to waste. The processing plant would be able to convert this excess to jams, juices, etc.

I’ve seen over the years the growth of the farming industry on the island, especially with young men who started with small farms as a hobby and have now expanded to multi-crop farms. Positive is supportive of this and the department has classes for anyone interested in becoming a farmer. Here is the department’s web site https://doa.vi.gov/