Testing the market for Asian vegetables
A growing number of Island producers are discovering a more ethnically diverse population can lead to new cash crops.
Asian vegetables are already being grown by a number of farmers and backyard gardeners, and the P. E. I. Horticultural Association is now looking at what would be needed to increase the number of varieties as well as the acreage.
“The market is really huge,” said Joanne Driscoll, the association’s general manager.
In fact, over $ 400 million worth of Asian vegetables are imported into the country each year. Driscoll said even capturing one per cent of that market would make a significant difference to the pocketbook of many Island producers.
The general manager has been supervising test plots for a number of crops this summer at Brookfield Gardens. That operation, owned by brothers Eddy and Gerald Dykerman, is an association member. The group has received funding help from the P. E. I. Adapt Council.
Driscoll explained the one- year trial is looking at such things as insect and disease control, management requirements, crop growth and possible limitations to growth. The list of crops being tried includes pak choi, Chinese cabbage, Chinese mustards, oriental greens, kohlrabi, Chinese spinach, Chinese radish, celtuce, rabini, okra and Japanese egg plant.
“Most of these crops have a growing season in the range of 30 days,” she said.
Driscoll said one of the main issues has been insect control, adding she has used two different types of netting to protect the crops as they mature. She added the warm weather has also created stress on the crops.
“There has been a great deal of trial and error,” she said. “Many of these crops have not been grown in any significant quantity here before so we don’t really have a lot of expertise to draw on.”
Driscoll said she has been working with Vesey’s Seeds determining what varieties to grow. She said the red Island soil seems to be fertile ground for Asian vegetables. The major challenge so far is some instances of what she called “bolting” where the plant goes to seed before producing a crop.
She said the next step will be meeting with food stores, particularly those that service an Asian immigrant market, to see how the product shapes up in terms of quality and taste. The organization would also like to do a market study on the potential of selling the product — not only locally but perhaps nationally and internationally.