ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, Fri. Dec. 10: One tree takes about six to eight years to bear its first crop but Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Grenada Cooperative Nutmeg Association, Augustine Vesprey, believes that speedy recovery of the stock will be able to make the nutmeg industry reach its pre-hurricane Ivan production levels in the not too distant future. Without giving a deadline for his “not too distant future,” Vesprey warned farmers at the Cooperative annual general meeting on Thursday that a resuscitated nutmeg industry must look beyond the export of nutmeg as a whole spice. “Our new nutmeg culture must carry with it the development of a cadre of young biotechnology and other engineering technology for the enhancement of our nutmeg product,” he said. Already, the GCNA has endorsed a plan to collaborate with the government and Ministry of Agriculture for the creation of 100,000 nursery plants over the next eight to twelve months and it also plans to seek the assistance of the schools in order to bring students on board with this new thrust. “Farmers, the GCNA must take a lead role as we resuscitate and rehabilitate,” said Vesprey, shortly after adding that the second half of the nutmeg year, 2003-2004, continued to be a challenging one. “Let us use the situation created by Hurricane Ivan as an opportunity to chart a course to develop a roadmap to prosperity.” The passage of Hurricane Ivan on September 7, left approximately 90 percent damage to the nutmeg tree stock, more than three million dollars damage to inventory and close to 3.75 million dollars damage to nutmeg stations and the Cooperative’s head office. Reprinted from Hardbeatnews.com