Clik here to view.
Agriculture Minister Indar Weir.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security is pressing ahead with plans to breathe new life into the sugar cane industry.
Speaking at the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) public meeting at Newbury, St. George on Thursday night, Minister Indar Weir reported that the strategy to revitalize this country’s oldest industry has already gone to Cabinet.
“We are modernising our sugar industry to the extent that we are using a full value chain industry which goes from sugar for domestic consumption, molasses for our rum industry, and then the waste matter is being used to generate renewable energy.”
Minister Weir thereby explained government’s foresight is to “bring the industry to profitability”.
“And all of you who are part of the labour force in farms and in the sugar industry, would have an opportunity for the first time in our existence to own shares where you can get a return on the profits made through the sugar industry transitioning programme.”
The Agriculture Minister also informed the people of St. George North that he will honour the BLP candidate Senator Toni Moore’s wish to introduce Hydroponics and Aquaponics into the constituency.
He said this will be achieved through the Farmers’ Empowerment and Enfranchisement Drive (FEED) programme aimed at reducing agricultural imports into the island which will ensure national food and nutrition security. Currently, farmers are also being trained in Apiculture and Freight Farming.
“I say to you St. George North that you do not have the traditional jobs that you used to get – we do not have enough land space even. And so, we must embrace technology, where you can take a freight farm and with your mobile phone, laptop, tablet and you can operate that farm, get to production faster and get greater yields. Yet, you do not have to use pesticides and of course it is a revolving system so therefore it is less water intensive, and you do not have to worry about climate change and prolong droughts,” he explained.
“To date, we have some 800 farmers signed up to be trained for the FEED programme and in St George North I am prepared to come here and identify space, where Toni can have Freight Farms which is also a Hydroponic system on a lease-to-own basis to young people who are interested in getting involved in agriculture.” (TL)
