Discussions are ongoing to use cassava for the fermentation of local beer, rather than using the flower of the hop plant which is imported in large quantities for T&T breweries.
So said Food Production Minister Devant Maharaj as he opened the Brickfield Packing House at Tabaquite yesterday.
The new facility provides a place for farmers to sort, size, label, clean, wax and package their produce. Equipped with chillers, freezers and training rooms, the Packing House is one of two opened this year by government, Maharaj said.
He explained that government remains committed to lowering the food import bill and this is why discussions are being held with Carib Brewery and National Flour Mills to use local produce in the manfacturing process.
Saying negotiations are still in the embryonic stage, Maharaj said tests will be done to determine whether cassava could be used as part of the fermentation process. Chief Executive Officer of the National Agricultural Marketing and Development Corporation (Namdevco) Ganesh Gangapersad said cassava fermentation has been tried and tested in the African continent.
Meanwhile Works Minister Dr Suruj Rambachan said over the past few years the government has paved hundreds of kilometres of agricultural access roads.
He said bridges and culverts were fixed to make life easier for the farmers. Rambachan denied that government had spent over $400 billion since it assumed office. He explained that earnings were $268 billion and expenditure was $291 billion, leaving a deficit of $23 million.
"For those who have eyes to see, it is clear to see that we got value for the money spent," Maharaj said, adding that 46 health centres have been opened and hundreds of nurses were being trained at the El Dorado Nursing Academy and the College of Science Technology and Applied Arts of T&T.
However, president of the Tableland Pineapple Farmers Association Ramesh Ramsumair said despite the construction of the packing house, not enough is being done to support the agricultural sector.
He added that farmers were still having a difficult time cultivating and processing produce because the agricultural database was in shambles.
"The first thing we have to do is build a database so we know what we have and what we should have. Right now we don't know who produces what, when they produce and in what quantities," Ramsumair said.
He added, "We welcome this packing house but this facilitates the end product and we need to get goods and services to come here. Farmers need to produce and we need proper infrastructure to help us accomplish this."
Ramsumair also said farmers have been begging to meet with Maharaj for the past three years to discuss agricultural concerns at the La Gloria Estate but this never materialised.
Saying the government's agricultural plan 2012 to 2015 had failed, Ramsumair explained: "We are running around like headless chickens. At this point we building a packing house and encouraging local food consumption, but we not putting things in place to help farmers to grow this food."
He said the Agricultural Society of TT was deprived of $5 million in funding while hundreds of millions of dollars were being invested elsewhere.