Reorganization of the Rodrigues lemon production sector

With this in mind, the lemon planters had an awareness meeting at the Cultural and Leisure Center in Mont Plaisir.

A new impetus will be given to this sector and specifications drawn up for the export of this citrus fruit to Europe. Training will be organized to remedy the shortcomings. Exporting will allow planters to have more income and to professionalize the different stages of this sector, namely planting, processing, sorting for different qualities, packaging and export.

In addition, the Ministry of Agro-Industry will support disease and pest control. Because the planters are often exploited and the lemon falls to the ground and rots under the trees. Hence the need for a guaranteed market for this product which has medicinal and aesthetic properties, and capable of boosting the Rodriguan economy. A protocol will be developed for courses that will be sanctioned by a certificate.

The FAO representative in Mauritius said that farmers will be an important link for the project. “As farmers, you have to follow certain procedures and that is to rearrange your field. The first step is the cleanliness of your field, you must keep records. We will stick together and win this battle. Your loam plants should be like your baby. You have to know what to give them when they are sick,” she explains.

For this part, the Commissioner of Agriculture, Louis Ange Perrine, has stated a synergy between the planters and other partners so that this project is a success story. « La komision la kom fasilitater ek ansam ki nou fer sa travay la. Nou pa pou fer oken zafer kass kontour. Tou zafer transparan ek dapre regleman. La FAO pou akonpagn nou dan sa transformasion la. Kan nou finn vizit Limon d’Or, nou finn trouv enn ta bak ranpli avek limon pouri ek sa bann dimoun ki finn van limon avec Limon d’Or pa finn gagn la pay ziska zordi », he said.