Are We Serious About Agriculture

Submitted by The Scout

Minister of Agriculture Haynesley Benn

For sometime I have been monitoring the growth of agriculture or lack of here in Barbados. Successive Governments have paid lip service to this industry and local farmers are becoming more and more frustrated, and rightly so. Praedial larceny again has been put on the back burner, this problem has not gone away, just that farmers have stop complaining as we got more angry when nothing is being done about it.

Also there is the problem of monkey theft, these animal over the years have become a serious problem, destroying almost every crop planted e.g potatoes, cassava, onions, etc, yet the Ministry of Agriculture cannot come up with a solution to the problem.

Then there is the problem with those who actually reap a crop to get it sold, we have to compete against foreign product that is subsidised, then against the foreign producers who are growing crops in Barbados and don’t have the overheads that the locals have. What is noteworthy is that I don’t hear of any of this class of local producers report praedial larceny, or the inability to sell their crops.

Is there a concerted effort to eliminate the Bajan farmer right in his own country? These subtle works of art by our neighbours is just another method to disenfranchise and frustrate Bajans and we are soaking it all up like if the doctor ordered it for us.

I’m calling on the DLP government that we the local Barbadians elected to look after our interest, to protect us in these difficult times . We built this nation up to what it is today and we’re patriotic enough to look after it’s future, we would not use underhand means and dangerous methods for monetary gain, while money is important  the welfare of our country is most important.