Bermuda’s Government Agricultural Service Centre offers a variety of services and products to registered Bermudian farmers and fishermen.

This includes items for sale, which include packaging products, pesticides, and ice. The Government Marketing Centre also offers cold storage rental for produce, and banana ripening services.

Packaging products

• boxes to suit most vegetables
• potato bags (5lb, 10lb, 25lb and 50lb)
• cabbage bags
• plastic pint- and quart-sized clamshells
• plastic pint punnets

Prices vary—visit or call the centre for more information.

Pesticides

A variety of approved agricultural chemicals are available for registered farmers to buy. The Agricultural Service Centre stocks a wide range of synthetic and organic herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides to meet the needs of the local agricultural industry.

Ice

Flake ice is available to registered farmers and fishermen to preserve their harvest and catch, subject to availability, during regular work hours Monday to Friday.

Ice sells for $0.15 per pound, as of March 2016.

Cold storage rental for produce

Farmers can rent cold storage facilities, subject to availability, at the Agricultural Service Centre. Five separate chill rooms provide adequate storage capability and meet the chilling requirements for most local produce.

Registered farmers must read, understand, and sign a storage waiver form on-site prior to the storage of any product. Produce must be properly boxed, in good condition prior to storage, and be able to fit on a pallet. Access to stored produce will only be during regular working hours.

Cold storage rental costs $0.90 per pallet per day.

Banana ripening

The Agricultural Service Centre ripens local bananas every Tuesday afternoon. Bananas must be boxed in approved boxes weighing 42–45lbs. Farmers can drop bananas off at the Agricultural Service Centre between Monday morning and 2p.m. Tuesday. Ripened bananas can collected Friday mornings.

Ripening costs $1.50 per box of bananas.

The timing of the ripening process may be altered during weeks with holidays.