#BTSpeakingOut – Speak to us, Mr. Weir

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY. 

by Ras Miguel

I have a few questions for Mr Indar Weir.

I have a personal interest in agriculture and as such I would like to know the status of our cotton industry.

Do we still have one? What is its viability as of January 30? We had started experimenting with cassava flour a few years back, what is the status of that? Are persons still engaged in it? What is the situation with this year’s sugar harvest?

How many tonnes are we likely to produce? With so much emphasis being placed on non-communicable diseases, what effort is being made to discourage Barbadians from the use of sugar and to concentrate on exporting at least 85 to 90 per cent of what we produce.

We can have a soft drink industry without sugar.

Where is the island in terms of aquaponics? I have more questions but I would like these dealt with for a start.

My focus, Mr. Weir, is to get you and every Bajan to realise that we need to concentrate our efforts over the next few years on producing upwards of 75 per cent of the food we eat.

We have to harvest food from the land and harvest food from the sea.

As it is now, the foods we import, the processed trash that we gouge on morning, noon and night is what is killing us. COVID-19 might be a blessing in disguise.

It has affected shipping and thus affected food importation which is a good thing. Let’s plant more, grow more, raise more animals. Additionally, there is a plant growing in Barbados for almost every ailment.

Let’s tap into the elderly and the knowledgeable and harness this knowledge for our benefit and forget some of the poison that passes for manufactured medicine.

The clock is ticking.