Prime Minister Mia Mottley has identified agriculture and health care as areas in which she would like Barbados to “do some serious work” with New Zealand. Prime Minister Mottley expressed this desire on Thursday when High Commissioner of New Zealand, Jan Henderson, paid her a farewell visit, at Government Headquarters. The Prime Minister said New […]
Category: Agriculture
As part of its efforts to monitor the nature and extent of competition within economic sectors in Barbados, the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) has launched a study of the poultry sector on the island. The Commission will be aiming to identify the separate markets that exist along the value chain; describe activities within each market; highlight […]
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations will be hosting and participating in a meeting of regional agricultural chemical management experts this week to highlight advancements and identify priorities in the safe life cycle management of pesticides and toxic chemicals in the Caribbean. The discussions […]
Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite is against Government using taxpayers’ monies to bail out privately owned sugar plantations. In fact, he believes there needs to be a full national discussion on the way forward for the dying sugar industry. “I have very passionate views about the sugar industry, but I would leave the Minister of Agriculture […]
One regional agriculture specialist is advising Government to make it mandatory for tourism operators here to use a certain amount of local agriculture produce in their operations. This suggestion has come from sub-regional Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Dr Lystra Fletcher-Paul, who said Barbados’ food import bill was simply too high. Addressing […]
The 2018 sugar crop is finally under way following a pledge by Government to start paying cane farmers this week, most of the $8.9 million in outstanding payments for the 2016-2017 crop. Chairman of the Barbados Sugar Industry Limited (BSIL) Mark Sealy told Barbados TODAY this afternoon the agreement was reached on Friday at a […]
In answer to complaints raised by local farmers, Minister of Agriculture Dr David Estwick today revealed that stricter provisions were coming under the Agricultural Protection and Livestock Act in a bid to protect domestic food production from foreign food imports. However, speaking during the launch of the Barbados Agricultural Marketing and Information System (BAMIS) at his […]
The Barbados-based Caribbean Drought and Precipitation Monitoring Network (CDPMN) says despite concerns that long term drought is evolving in southern Haiti, there are currently no concerns over short term drought in the Caribbean up until the end of April this year. In its latest bulletin, the CDPMN noted that though “recent conditions indicate slight to […]
A new agricultural trading platform was launched here this week by the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (BADMC), with Minister of Agriculture Dr David Estwick suggesting that it had the potential to transform the local sector. Known as the BADMC’s Crop Value Chain Services, the technological platform seeks to bring together buyers and sellers […]
With praedial larceny said to be wrecking havoc on the farming community, local agricultural officials have resorted to unorthodox means in a desperate bid to catch thieves red handed. This morning officials of Viral Media Inc. unveiled a pilot project on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Water Resource Management that will […]
Life is about to become tougher for agricultural produce and livestock thieves, who have been running a well-organized ring, according to Chief Agricultural Officer Lennox Chandler. The agricultural official has confirmed that new legislation – the Protection of Agricultural Products and Livelihood Bill 2017 and the Protection of Agricultural Products and Livestock Regulations 2017 – […]
The state-owned Rural Development Commission (RDC) is battling an “unacceptably high” loan delinquency rate which threatens funding for other micro businesses. Without providing statistics, Senior Field Officer with the RDC Osmond Yearwood told Barbados TODAY his agency has been forced to take legal action against some clients. He was speaking this morning on the sidelines of a […]
Barbadian farmers will be among 90 from three Caribbean countries who will participate in a climate smart agriculture project over the next 18 months. Speaking at the launch of the programme, Executive Director of the Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC) Gordon Bispham said the aim of the project, in which farmers from Grenada and St […]
Barbadian farmers will be among 90 from three Caribbean countries who will participate in a climate smart agriculture project over the next 18 months. Speaking at the launch of the programme yesterday, executive director of the Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC) Gordon Bispham said the aim of the project, in which farmers from Grenada and […]
Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS) James Paul is imploring dairy farmers, who invested $1.1 million last year in the import of heifers to bolster the dairy industry, to hold strain on Government’s promised loan rebate. Last October the BAS secured financing from RBC Royal Bank on behalf of the six farmers […]
Barbados’ food import bill is increasing, while its production of vital commodities is decreasing, a Government official has warned. Minister of Labour Dr Esther Byer-Suckoo therefore sees a desperate need for more young Barbadians to get into farming as a means of rescuing the agricultural sector and cutting down the country’s $500 million food import […]
Steeper fines, longer jail terms and an agricultural vendors registry are some of the measures to be included in Government’s long promised praedial larceny Bill, Minister of Agriculture and Water Resource Management David Estwick has revealed. Speaking to the media following Thursday afternoon’s launch of the Ministry’s e-platform for registered agricultural producers and buyers, Estwick […]
