Papaw in food security drive – IICA

A popular tropical fruit found more in Barbadian backyards than farms could become a symbol of higher food production levels and greater food security, a top regional agricultural official suggested Friday.

Experts are working to grow more of the fruit known here as papaw or pawpaw – papaya – using better technology and new means to fight the bunchy top virus that wipes out pawpaw and banana crops, said Allister Glean, the Barbados representative of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA).

He zeroed in on rising levels of papaya grown here among indicators of increasing food production to reduce food import levels.

“We want to ramp up papaya production [and] food production generally in Barbados,” said Glean. “We have produced a manual along with the ministry that looks at improved production practices – and I say improved because the technology has advanced, and we want to introduce that technology to the farmers, introduce better varieties that are more [bunchy top disease] resistant, that would allow us to increase production in Barbados.

“What does that do? It reduces the reliance on imported foods. We see a lot of important foods coming in and we believe we can satisfy the demand for papaya here in Barbados if we ramp up production. So that is something we are going to do – bring in additional support to assist with capacity building to allow our farmers to adopt the various technologies.”

Raising food production to boost food security across the region should be the top priority as the globe grapples with several economic shocks produced by foreign conflicts, said Glean.

A series of actions, from crop planting to supply chain management, would be critical for the Caribbean to better navigate international economic shocks, he suggested.

He was speaking at IICA’s Annual Accountability Seminar at Baobab Tower, Warrens. The event provided an opportunity for the IICA office here to reflect on the progress made over the past year by keeping its stakeholders informed on IICA’s plans, activities and achievements.

Agriculture experts are paying more attention to water management for the farming industry, said Glean. IICA has been working with the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (BADMC) and the agriculture ministry to build concrete tanks and artificial ponds in various locations to allow the farmers to irrigate their crops and deal with drought conditions.

But Glean also acknowledged that crop theft, commonly referred to as praedial larceny, remained a concern for all who were seeking to expand food production, as he pleaded with consumers to support law enforcement in their duties to crack down on criminals.

“I think the praedial larceny requires some additional focus, and as an institute, we some years ago would have undertaken an exercise to promote initiatives that would have worked across other countries in the region. I think that is something we want to revisit. I think that the ministry will continue its efforts to address praedial larceny, but it takes the support of all persons to address the issue of praedial larceny,” he said.

“Consumers need to ask questions to determine the source of their produce; [it] requires more work with the judiciary etc. so that we can have higher conviction rates for praedial larceny. Ultimately, everyone needs to be on board, it is not just up to the government or the agencies; consumers and buyers need to be more vigilant and ask the right questions.”
(SB)