Some of the persons that attended Wednesday night’s Town Hall Meeting.
The Ministries within the Government need to work together if the agricultural industry is to flourish.
This comment was made by Patrick Bethell, local Barbadian farmer, as he made remarks during the Barbados Association of Professional Engineers Town Hall Meeting, which took place at the Combermere School Wednesday night.
“We have a situation where the farmers are responding to the technology that is there and unfortunately for this Government ministries don’t seem to gel together,” he said.
“We have the Ministry of Agriculture working with the farmer to increase production, you have the Ministry of Industry and Commerce working to import the same production that farmers are producing, and the Ministry of Tourism saying that we have to import what the tourists want to eat.”
Bethell noted that those were the challenges that farmers faced in Barbados and stated that this was disheartening for farmers who were working hard to produce crop to sell.
He described the situation as demoralising, stating that a farmer could produce, for example, a wonderful crop of cabbage, but would not be able to sell this because there were competing with “loads of imported cabbage on the island.”
Additionally, he stated that even though the poultry industry in Barbados was one of the most successful industries Barbados had to date, pressure was being put on the Government to free up to market to let chicken come into Barbados.
Even though it seems official permission had not been given to import chicken, Bethell stated that he was still able to see imported “classic breast strips, seasoned, sliced and fully cooked” in a supermarket in Christ Church.
“This is what we’re up against, these are being eased into the country and displacing local production,” he said.
“This is something that happens frequently,” he added.
To the people suggesting that the farmers simply look to go into the business of exportation, Bethell highlighted instances where they would have attempted to get into the exporting business, but were constantly competing with other countries who produced the crop on a larger scale.
He believed that it was important for the Ministries within the Government to work together so that agriculture could succeed in the country.