More than $40 million is being injected into a new agricultural incentive programme for local farmers.Food Production Minister Vasant Bharath announced this as he outlined the list of incentives being offered to them during a farmers' meeting at SS Erin Road, Santa Flora on Friday night.The Minister, along with Public Utilities Minister Emmanuel George and Senator David Abdullah also toured areas in Erin and Siparia.Bharath announced that the Government had put aside $20 million in the Agricultural Development Bank for farmers interested in getting involved in green house technology, adding that they have initiated a programme to encourage farmers to adapt to that technology.
Bharath said: "No longer can we continue to farm the same way we did 50 years ago. You have to start running your agricultural farms as businesses. You have to understand the difference between getting cash and the difference between profit and loss. This is why we want to introduce you to greenhouse farming."Bharath said greenhouse farming hinders the harsh weather condition from affecting crops as well as deals with issues of pests: "With no pest means less pesticide which will be better for human consumption."
$20m to fight Red Palm mite
Government, he said, was also in the process of spending $20 million in the fight to eradicate the Red Palm mite which has caused the coconut industry to collapse."It may require a replanting exercise of almost all of the coconut plantation in Trinidad and Tobago," he said.An incentive of $6,000 per hectare, he added, will also be granted to farmers who venture into the rehabilitation of the coconut, cocoa and citrus industries. In addition, he said, the old incentive plan of $25,000 for the purchase of equipment has been doubled to $50,000.The plan also includes the purchase of second hand equipment, which the Minister said, is aimed at assisting the poor farmers.
"We are also looking to encourage the planting of rice. Currently we are only producing five per cent of the rice we eat in Trinidad and Tobago," he said. However, he said, their biggest obstacle is obtaining land.He introduced an incentive of $200,000 for farmers to purchase combined harvesters. Responding to farmer's complaints about lack of water, he said they have imposed a 75 per cent reimbursement for people who implement irrigation systems."What we are trying to do is create a system where we don't waste water," he added.
On the issue of predial larceny, Bharath said they have introduced a Predial Larceny Squad that will work with the police. They will carry firearms and will be positioned in strategically and will be closely monitored by the ministry, Bharath said.He also indicated that an incentive of $30,000 was being offered for those seeking to purchase security systems at their farms."I can't promise you to do everything because my pockets aren't so deep, but what I will promise you is to utilise the funds in the best possible way I can," he said.