Farmers under pressure, conserving biodiversity critical

By Anesta Henry

Minister of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Security Indar Weir on Tuesday disclosed that farmers are reaping less because the soil is becoming less fertile, as he stressed the importance of conserving and managing the island’s biodiversity.

He spoke about the harsh realities that farmers are struggling with as he contributed to debate in the House of Assembly on Tuesday, on a resolution to accept the Barbados National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2020.

Weir said farmers have reported that they plant fewer crops because they have “to grow with intensity to get greater yields” while spending more on costly chemical fertilisers.

“This country must now face the hardcore reality that confronts us with climate change and if we do not strike a balance with what climate change is about to do with us as a people, with our plants and with our animals, we can speak until the cows come home, the one-one blow will certainly kill the old cow. 

“And, therefore, we must recognise the importance of innovation in order for us to use technology and in order for us to do proper lab testing, but also for us to preserve our plants and our animal species in order for us to have a balanced biodiversity,” he said.

Explaining that bio-based solutions have been designed to strengthen the sector and help farmers reap greater yields, given that fertilisers and chemicals will stop being impactful over time, Minister Weir stressed that factories that produce these inputs must be encouraged.

Minister of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Security, Indar Weir.

“And we have to formulate all the policies that are to be built around using bio-inputs in agriculture to save the ecosystem, help rebuild the biodiversity and, Mr Speaker, at the same time give us clean food, give us greater yields, give us greater economic activity, save people from having to go to the hospital with NCDs [non-communicable diseases] because of what they ingested, and protect our children by making sure that what we are feeding them isn’t laden with chemicals that are harmful to the body – because we have seen with our own eyes that they are killing the insects, they are killing the plants; therefore, it follows with common sense that they would kill us,” the Agriculture Minister said.

With plans afoot to introduce a suite of regulations to deal with bio-inputs in agriculture, Weir said that the training of technicians in biodiversity is necessary and the University of the West Indies (UWI) must assist in the effort.

He contended that Barbados cannot recover plant and animal loss unless opportunities are created to provide the relevant training for people to restore biodiversity.

“So, the training of technicians is an absolutely important aspect of this development and it must be treated as one of the key components of us maintaining our biodiversity and improving on what has taken place to reduce a lot of the species that we used to have. 

“And then, Mr Speaker, . . . bio-inputs will attract investment because your country is going in a new direction. It will be an opportunity for a new type of investment and an opportunity for foreign direct investment,” Minister Weir added. anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb