Revive agriculture again Dominica

letter to the editorWhile it may be true that Agriculture does face a lot of challenges, I remain optimistic that there is hope for the sector. I believe that every person affiliated with or actively involved in the sector should make a conscious decision to contribute to its growth. From my research, I believe that the issue goes far beyond just a lack of markets and feeder roads. Instead,it is a chain of small and huge wrong doings by the parties involved.

How do we address issues as it relates to the inconsistency and unreliability of the suppliers? Can we regulate pricing so that everyone benefits mutually? Is there something that we can do to predetermine demand and supply thus reducing product wastage? These are the questions that the relevant authorities should be asking.

Do we really know who are the ones affected in all this? The retail outlets struggle to sell input supplies because the suppliers don’t have enough buying power or the government directly competes with them. As a result, there becomes a lack of adequate food supply, and the hucksters and export agencies and food consumers struggle to get adequate food for sale and consumption and the country continues to struggle.

The question remains, how is everyone going to work together so that the country gets out of this struggle? It is by taking responsibility and starting do things right and do the right things. The suppliers have to make a decision to brand, advertise, market their produce while the consumers have to make a decision to consume local and eat healthy. The government has to decide to reduce importation and regulate prices across the board among other things. It’s simply a matter where everyone understands his or her role in the revival process and then to start acting now. And sooner than later, we’re going to have a happy, healthy Agriculture.

Do you agree? What do you think are the issues faced in the agricultural sector in Dominica?

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8 Comments

  1. Jonathan St Jean
    July 17, 2016

    My suggestion is to identify a few crops,because there are too many to work on all with limited resources.Start from the marketing end by identifying and get commitments for those crops from buyers.Next identify the innovators and early adapters in agriculture in Dominica and work with them to make the process work.Get the post harvest facilities and protocols and standards refined and accepted by producers and buyers.Then get production under way.Once these crops are working successfully and the need for more production arises then smaller farmers and large majority of farmers can join in the process because there will be models that they can emulate.This is not new to Dominica because that is how the banana industry developed.

  2. Dr Clayton Shillingford
    July 15, 2016

    To:Real Possie..whoever you are..We have a tendency to think that the cause of any problem is one thing or another thing when often it is a combination of many factors that need to be addressed.. In the agriculture case yes the roads are important , as is training fro new farmers as well as old, plus implementing of improved agronomic practices, pest and disease control, a diagnostic laboratory for soil analysis and nutrition/fertilizer recommendation, quality control, proper packaging, and market access, For these matters to be properly addressed initial leadership must come from the Government..That leadership is not forthcoming because of the incompetence of the individuals who are charged to make decisions and provide direction for the industry.. Itis much too facile to blame the farmers

  3. July 14, 2016

    The Almighty has blessed us with a land that is fertile and if we are not utilizing this blessing then we shall lose it like the man who buried his one and only talent.

  4. real possie
    July 14, 2016

    Feeder roads are not the problem, the problem is the older folks can’t work no more and the younger people were raised on microwaves. The people who were put in place to deal with agriculture played politics with it ie DAPAX. When you can tell farmers to dump bananas at the airport for no reason, it shows why agriculture is where it’s at. Before you all start blasting me, ask your selves this, why is it the Haitians can come here and be productive on the same none existent feeder roads?

    • %
      July 15, 2016

      When Skerrca look at an industry as important as agriculture and put it in the hand of Johno what do you ecpect?This is a CANNOT DO GOVERNMENT….In addition to agriculture,they have killed manufacturing,tourism,all institutions,education,etc…What else these evil men and women will not do…Their sycophants are even more wicked than them..Most are lazy and unemployed.

  5. July 14, 2016

    No one is talking about the feeder roads in pte Michel the road to gomey thru la- badien to belvie shopien is already an established road all it need is to be graded there is a pal rep who live there on that road in the woods on the way there why is no attention is being payed to that road a former priest have property up there why is that road not being maintain people from belve can use that road to come to pte Michel from the montain , and we the people from pte michel can go to bevie on on our vehicle

  6. viewsexpressed
    July 14, 2016

    Good article, I love this part of it: “It’s simply a matter where everyone understands his or her role in the revival process and then to start acting now. And sooner than later, we’re going to have a happy, healthy Agriculture.”

    But I would like to alert the writer, who is gonna take on that leadership role you made mention of.? This is what we are lacking. It is just like a home with parents who lack parenting skills and the children are ill disciplined and lack direction and education.
    This is the situation with this government, they are bad, immature, bad, rotten parents. They lack leadership and “parenting skills” and Dominica’s children are bounced here there and everywhere and are fed with handouts rather than paving they way for them to skilled, educated and productive farmers.
    The Labour party government under this leader has failed our children, families and created begging homes. Skerrit and his corrupt Labour party government must go, they are bad, inept parents.

  7. July 14, 2016

    With these poor feeder roads, the quality of produce will be highly deminish on the way from farm to market, so proper feeder roads is the first step to improve quality and the DLP have abandon the feeder roads for the past 16 years

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