Food production not yet past pre-COVID levels – Agriculture Minister

Food production is on the rebound, Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir has declared, but the post-pandemic recovery has not yet risen to pre-COVID levels.

Weir told the Estimates hearings that focused on his ministry on Tuesday that while productivity has not reached that of previous years, including 2020, the improvement since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic could not be overstated.

“On the rebound from COVID, this ministry’s overall performance for 2023 saw a 24 per cent increase in production in the entire sector,” he reported. “This is attributed to the work that was done certainly by the farmers, and by the ministry working together with the farmers. The year 2023 gave us an overall production figure of 20.1 million kilogrammes (kg) of agricultural commodities. While I will admit that this level of output is 14.56 million kg or 72 per cent more than 2008 levels, it still represents a shortfall of 34 per cent when compared to the year 2020.”

The 2023 expansion was led by seven commodities which all surpassed one million kg: sweet potatoes, 3.41 million kg; chives, 1.96 million kg; bananas, 1.84 million kg; watermelon, 1.5 million kg; onions, 1.33 million kg; cucumbers, 1.13 million kg; and tomatoes, 1.03 million kg. These commodities accounted for 61 per cent of all crops harvested in 2023, the minister told the House.

However, there has been a contraction in livestock production after the highest growth rate of nine per cent in 2015, with chicken production remaining the highest and most stable.

In an overview of 15 years of meat and milk production from 2008 to 2023, Weir said the poultry industry produced a total of 235 million kg of chicken meat at an average of 15.7 million kg a year. Pork was the next best performer at 42.8 million kg and an average of 2.85 kg annually. Turkey production followed with 3.5 million kg, beef with 2.6 million kg, and mutton with 1.54 million kg. Over the same 15-year period, milk production reached 82.7 million kg and egg production 45.7 million kg.

Weir added: “In 2023, we confirmed that the domestic livestock sector contracted by two per cent when compared to 2022. Turkey and mutton registered the highest growth of 19.5 per cent and 7.4 per cent respectively. Poultry production, which is the mainstay of the industry, was at 102 547 kg
lower in 2023 than it was in 2022 when output was 15.6 million kg.

“It is recognised that the industry requires some immediate stimulus in order to remain viable, and some of the initiatives that we are taking to make sure that we give support to the livestock industry will be introduced later,” Weir said. These initiatives will focus on both the quality and quantity of animals available to farmers, and that is the reason why we have expanded the number of incentives that would be made available to farmers, and those incentives will be increased to somewhere to the tune of $7.9 million.”

The minister also said that a Brazilian contingent which visited Barbados last month for Agrofest has agreed to send 320 Girolando cows to help Pine Hill Dairy ramp up milk production.

In another update on bilateral collaboration, Weir outlined an initiative between the governments of Guyana and Barbados to develop a regional brand of sheep to reduce the importation of lamb and mutton into the region.

“Because Barbados is so small, the target of one million heads of black belly sheep will not be achieved on this landscape; it, therefore, means that we had to partner with our CARICOM brothers and sisters. We have partnered with Guyana in delivering so far 743 black belly sheep, and 250 to go.

“When this is done we are going to get two bites at one cherry; we reduce our imports of mutton from New Zealand because it then gives us the opportunity to bring back the carcasses to Barbados for us to do our cuts in Barbados – and in order for us to satisfy that, we brought in a master butcher from the United Kingdom who did training with our butchers and also training at the hospitality school.”

He added: “When this project is finished, Barbados then stands to benefit from the production of pureline black belly sheep, which we will use to maintain that type of variety, and then we would also keep those genetics as our own. Equally, because of the crossing, we get an opportunity to get a leaner, healthier mutton with less fat.”  (SB)