Horticulture Research Directorate The Gambia.

The National Agricultural Research Institute is screening and evaluating different vegetable crop lines (onion, tomato, and pepper) in Yundum Horticulture Research Station. Tomato, onion, and pepper are the key priority crops in all agricultural developments in blue print in the Gambia, contributing significantly to household nutrition, employment, and income generation. However, the productivity of these crops is often constrained by inadequate quality seeds, especially of improved and adapted varieties.

Therefore, the NARI Horticulture Research Program, in collaboration with the CIRAWA project under the National Seed Secretrate (NSS), is doing these activities to introduce quality and improve vegetable seeds and varieties for a sustainable local seed supply chain. maintaining open-pollinated vegetable seeds will ensure a continuous supply of quality supply chain.
Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock & Food Security
Demba B. Jallow

National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) Horticulture Research Program is evaluating different rates of Organic fertiliser and plant density on growth and productivity of onion 🌰.

Most of the producers are shifting into organic vegetable production because organic fertiliser offers sustainable and environmentally friendly benefits, improves soil structure, water retention, microbial activities and nutrients availability in the soil. Despite these benefits, excessive applications are uneconomical and delay nutrients release to crops, while insufficient application leads to nutrient deficiencies to crops .

Similarly, inappropriate plant spacings result in competition for nutrients, light, and water or inefficient land use. Therefore, the optimum combination of organic fertiliser rates and plant density may enhance onion productivity.

These findings will enable NARI to recommend the suitable combination for sustainable and stable production and productivity of onions in The Gambia.

NARI, in collaboration with the ROOTS project,aims to intensify nutrition driven agricultural production. The on station rapid multiplications of orange flesh sweet potato (OFSP) vines for distribution to project sites and interested producers is nearly complete.
NARI and the ROOTS project are leading the nation in the area of national food and nutrition security.

National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) horticulture program is the lead in introducing Innovations and new technologies adaptation in the local farming system of The Gambia 🇬🇲.
The program is currently working on how to increase yields of onions with a marginal increase in inputs and a more the 100% increase in output. As we know our country is still struggling to attain 50% of its consumption needs in the horticultural sector please contact us for guidance in innovations and best practices in horticultural production.

NARI in collaboration with West & Central African Wheat Network have introduced two prominent 🥖 wheat 🌾 varieties. The varieties are under observational trials with the Cropping System and Agroforestry Research Directorate.

NARI is doing all it could to introduce high prominence crop varieties that can diversify crop production in the Gambian farming system, which could reduce the dependence on food crop importation and build a strong micro economy for our nation.

Bio-fortification is a drive to fight hidden hunger and malnutrition.

NARI in partnership with the ROOTS project, are building farmers and community resilient through introduction of bio-fortified crops, strengthening farmers knowledge in varietal selection, sustainable climate smart agriculture and nutrition sensitive agriculture.

These are activities with the package of introducing micro nutrients dense crops in 20 ROOTS project beneficiary communities.

Participatory Research is the way forward for a paradigm shift in technology diffusion.

National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) in partnership with the Resilience of Organizations for Transformative Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ROOTS), is currently conducting a three days training for Farmer Field School (FFS) facilitators on the following topics.

1. Rapid multiplication techniques of sweet potatoes 🍠 and cassava
2. The importance and principles of Mother Baby trials
4. Principles of nutrition sensitive agriculture 👩‍🌾
5. NARI recommended bio fortified crop varieties and other areas of climate change and social adaptation agricultural practices to build the resilience of small scale agricultural producers.

The training draw participants from 20 gardens the ROOTS project is currently working with and 6 field staffs of the project. The training is done as an inception training for the INTRODUCTION, MULTIPLICATION, DISTRIBUTION and CONSUMPTION of MICRO NUTRIENT-RICH CROPS in ROOTS BENEFICIARY COMMUNITIES.

The NARI technicians showed samples of harvest of the crops that will be introduced in their gardens through a Participatory Varietal Selection approach and a palatability test was also conducted for the new varieties to be introduced.

The training will conclude on taking stock of farmers good practices, ideas and brainstorming on sustainability and continuous improvement on production practices.

The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Security, Hon. Dr. Dembe Sabally, on his delivery notes mentioned that the institutions under his Ministry are as follows:
1. Department of Agriculture (DoA)
2. Department of Livestock Services (DLS)
3. Department of Planning (DoP)
4. Department of Cooperative Development (DoCD)
5. National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI)
6. Gambia Livestock Marketing Agency (GLMA)
7. National Seed Secretariat (NSS)
8. West Africa Livestock Innovation Center (WALIC)