A federally funded orchard project is starting to (literally) bear fruit, bringing profit and, well, fruit to the table over the next year, Agriculture Commissioner Louis Petersen said during budget hearings Friday.
Thus far, the fruit orchard project has purchased over 450 fruit trees, 2,000 pineapple plants, water storage tanks, irrigation supplies with funding from a 2009 Specialty Crop Block Grant award, he said. The orchard project continues into 2012 and during the next year, those involved in pineapple production should see production and profit begin to materialize, he said.
The department has submitted for a $183,000 grant from the USDA’s Specialty Block Grant Program for 2012, he said. And if successful, they will use the money to continue supporting participating farmers and hire a part time project manager to help market local farm products under the Virgin Fresh promotional program, he said. Since 2007, the department’s marketing division has been responsible for bringing in $590,000 in new grant funding. But the one-man marketing division recently became vacant, and the current hiring freeze creates a hardship for Agriculture, Petersen said.
Getting the marketing position filled and getting some part time help to support the marketing director are high priorities for the department, he said.
Among other ongoing Agriculture Department efforts, on St. Thomas, a 60,000-gallon cistern for the Estate Bordeaux Farmer’s Market is under construction, and later this year work is expected to begin on a marketing pavilion and dining deck above the cistern, Petersen said. Part of the funding for that work came from the V.I. Housing Finance Authority’s Community Development Block Grant program, he said.
As a result of a $1,500 contribution from the St. Croix Foundation, restauranteurs at this year’s Taste of St. Croix food exposition were given coupons or gift certificates to shop at local farmer’s markets and encourage them to think about how they can incorporate more local produce in their menus, he said.
Gov. John deJongh Jr.’s 2012 budget proposal recommends a general fund appropriation of $2.8 million for Agriculture in 2012: a decrease of $338,000 or 11 percent from the fiscal 2011 appropriation of $3.1 million. The department expects another $435,000 from locally-generated funds, such as rents on farm land, and $235,000 in federal funds for a total of $3.5 million.
Petersen said the department is requesting a $609,000 miscellaneous fund appropriation for contractual obligations with the territory’s humane societies, appropriations for the Agriculture Sustainable Contribution and program expenses. The federal portion of the budget will be used to support projects in the Forestry Division They anticipate applying for funding from several other USDA programs this year and are hoping to receive more federal funds than listed on the budget, Petersen said.
"Ninety-five percent of our total general fund budget is obligated for personnel and fringe benefits expenses while five percent is budgeted for overhead and utility expenses," Petersen said.
