Cayman ‘container farm’ could be transplanted to Turks and Caicos

A Cayman business is taking its plans for a solar-powered container farm to Turks and Caicos amid claims that red tape is hampering progress at home.

The agricultural entrepreneurs behind Primitive Greens insist they are ready to get to work on an indoor mega farm featuring 50 shipping containers converted to hydroponic growing labs.

Each 40-foot hydroponic container can supply up to 1,500 heads of lettuce per week – equivalent to the output of between two and three acres of farmland.

But the viability of the project – which they say would generate enough leafy greens to meet the demands for the entire island – depends on a linked solar power project.

The farm would be powered by a 3MW solar and battery system, with surplus energy sold back to the grid to help offset costs.

James Whittaker and Kerry Lawrence, partners in the project, are seeking approval from OfReg for the energy portion of the planned development. But the pair claim they have had no response to their inquiries and now other jurisdictions with food-and-energy security challenges are showing more interest in the project.

A delegation from Turks and Caicos visited their prototype farm in Savannah – which produces leafy greens for the local market – last week, with a view to encouraging a similar project  – on a larger scale – in Providenciales.

Whittaker said the group still wants to build a larger container farm in Cayman but will be working with TCI as well.

“We always envisaged this as a Caribbean-wide concept,” he said.

“We would have liked the first one to be in Cayman but it looks like it will now happen in Turks and Caicos first, even though it was developed here in Cayman by Caymanians.”

He said the application had been filed with the regulator last June. OfReg did not respond to requests for comment by press-time Monday.

The process in Turks and Caicos appears to be simpler, said Whittaker. He expects the group to sign a memorandum of understanding with the TCI government in the coming weeks.

The territory’s agriculture minister, Josephine Connolly, who visited the prototype farm in Grand Cayman on Monday, 13 Feb., spoke enthusiastically about the potential of the project to enhance food security in the small island.

“The Government remains resolute in its quest to ensure sustainable food security for the Turks and Caicos Islands and our people,” she said in a press release.

“The potential of hydroponics, such as the approach presented by Primitive Greens, is a step in the right direction.”

Whittaker said Primitive Greens was in discussions with the TCI government and TCI Invest over a smaller container farm – featuring around 20-25 containers and a 1.5MW solar installation – on the island of Providenciales.

“They are serious about it and it is moving forward at pace,” he added.

Lawrence said he was disappointed to get more traction for the idea in a neighbouring territory than he had at home.

“We really wanted to do it here, but if other Caribbean islands are interested then we will work with them. We weren’t getting much response locally so we reached out to TCI and they came over here to check it out. We’ve had great support and I think they are ready to go with it.”

He said the project would help with sustainability, food security and a number of other pressing issues for Cayman.

“The approval process has been tremendously slow but hopefully we will be able to do it.”

Primitive Greens believes hydroponic farming can be a ‘game changer’ for small islands with food-security challenges. The Cayman project would produce an output equivalent to a 150-acre farm on a small commercial site, Whittaker claims.

• James Whittaker, of Primitive Greens, and James Whittaker, the writer of this story, are not related.