Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Indar Weir (centre) speaking to the media during his tour of Agrofest on Sunday. On his left is Deputy Chief Agriculture Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Leslie Brereton, (centre, back row) Chief Executive Officer of Barbados Agricultural Society, James Paul and (right) Permanent Secretary in Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Seibert Frederick.
One minister is looking to get government away from the commercial activity of agriculture and focus on research and development, while creating a regulatory framework to help farmers become successful business people.
This comment was made by Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Indar Weir after a tour with media at the recently held Agrofest. Minister Weir said that this was his vision for the Ministry and he was convinced after seeing the various exhibitions at the national event. He noted the large number of young people and school children who came to see the displays at Agrofest and stressed the importance of the agriculture exhibition.
“We have to capitalise on opportunities like these to make sure that we get a more suitable fit for this journey that we are on in terms of growth and agriculture and in terms of how we rebuild and structure our economy, ” said Minister Weir.
“People Need Assistance”
The Minister said that he has listened to farmers and what he has deduced from their feedback is that they need assistance. Weir said that he will make sure to use the opportunity before him to provide the support that they require.
“What’s it we are going to do at the Ministry? We are going to take the government out of a commercial space, we are going to provide training for the farmers. We are going to introduce best practices and the government is going to take full responsibility for research and development so that when you look to rotation of crops, we are eliminating crop diseases, we are mitigating against future potential diseases and expanding yield. That is the responsibility of a government,” said Weir.
He added that the other responsibility of the private sector is ”to take charge” and make agriculture the leading sector in the rebuilding of Barbados’ economy.