Stakeholders in the agriculture sector are being asked to step up their game and make the necessary changes and adjustments ahead of a grand trade expo carded in October.
Dominica is the host country of the 10th Annual Caribbean Week of Agriculture this year which runs from October 9th to 15th and a trade expo is expected to be part of the initiative.
Program Coordinator Ed Registe says the way we do agriculture and conduct business should also change.
“Meantime we view agriculture as something that is for lesser people or for rural people, but there is money to be made in agriculture and we are going to let people see the number of achievements in that sector over the last few years,” he said.
Registe said the aim to redirect the focus on what agriculture has constructed to the Dominican economy.
The week of activities -which will bring close to 300 foreign nationals-to the island is expected to provide a forum for discussions towards the review of present agricultural policies in the region.
Discussion my a**!! The farmers have been given the short end of the stick for too long.. As a past Extension Officers we tend to demand excellence from our farmers but we do not give them the resources. Yes we give seeds and fertilizers and favour the farmers with greater finances. Ed for Agriculture to improve in DOMINICA WE HAVE TO STOP TALKING AND GIVE THE FARMERS THE RESPECT AND UNHINDERED RESOURCES THEY DESERVE!!!!!!!
Don’t go to their farms and spruce them up just for October then forget about them.
DNO, what about my response you did not like? Let me try again. Lets see if you are fair and balance.
I am calling on all farmers to start digging a pit from now until the expo so when Ed Registe and his gang intend to visit your farms so u could put a fork in his butt and bury him in that pit.Have u not heard Arthur (Wrecker) Shillingford?Go join him and let your voice be heard crying in favor of the a**es.
Is registe the new permanent secretary of agriculture? Does he know what he is talking about? what programme is he directing? who the hell is this guy?
but seriously now… who is Ed Registe?
he look a little bit fuuny right .
Well said Farmer for life.
We have countless trained personnel in the division of Agriculture that can coordinate but every Government wants to play politics with agriculture and have Registe be the coordinator. How can an outsider now want to come tell the hard working farmers of the nature Isle what to do? Square pegs in round holes, and this is the same for the government role/ contribution in the sector.
We had over 300 delegates come to the Invest in Agriculture Symposium a few years ago, and tangible conclusions were given to move the sector to the next level, but certain ministers stood up at the Symposium and said that if he has one dollar, he would invest it in Tourism and NOT Agriculture………………………….. What do you expect the farmers of the land to do when they can hear this minister representing the Government saying such, seeing that so much more investment is placed into Tourism?
Today, they are crying that Tourism is being affected………………………bunch of JOKERS. REGISTE AS WELL AS THE PRESENT MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY DOING.
If we are serious in the sector, let’s have a full proof plan that will touch the three essential pillars in the sector: Marketing, Production, and Agri- business.
First, we MUST dissolve the entire Ministry of Agriculture, and remove friends and family that are non productive and especially those that have political affiliation to the present administration. We need to maximize our Human resources (and we do have abundance of knowledgeable personnel) to effectively get the job done.
Marketing – We already have Dexia that can continue to play a bigger role in scanning every Caribbean Island, looking at every Hotel, restaurants, shop and analyze every marketing index and interpret this data to production. Their role is to seek, find and drive what is being produced and how much and when. A component of RnD is essential at this point.
Production – Agricultural Production should be aggressively driven in both plant and animal production. Extension should be divided into four quarters to serve the four corners of the island and Food security should be the number one goal. Every quarter should be able to provide food for its people; hence, investment will be the same in every quarter of the island. Bi -annual soil test MUST be conducted where soil profile should be known. Mr. Registe, with just knowing our soil type, we already know what crops can be grown, and where to grow them. We can project our income from each and every farm in each quarter from a soil analysis.
Existing departments like Livestock, plant protection and quarantine, Extension, organics and Information should remain while new departments like irrigation, transportation and mechanization, entomology, genetics and biotechnology, etc should be created. The Division of Agriculture in the Botanical Gardens should also be incorporated into a new research center with state of the art production (plants and animals) labs and basic research should be conducted on every crop in every quarter on the Island. This center will produce new varieties of crops that can be enhanced into sweeter, high yields, disease – free plants and should not be free to the farmers, but at a subsidized cost. Plants from this center will be grown in the extension stations in every corner and field demonstrations will be done periodically as new findings are established and older ones are re- visited. Production should be increased ten folds and farms should meet their quota that is pronounced by the marketing agency/ Dexia.
The Livestock department will have the same exercise and their labs will be designed to genetically modify our species of livestock on Island to safely produce more volume at minimum cost to farmers. The Londondery animal farm should be one that can supply the entire country with sufficient offspring in every class, which would include but not limited to poultry, ruminants, rabbits and pigs, etc.
Agri- Business Center should be established so that every farmer, anyone with a back yard can come in and sell their produce at the established market value. Raw materials should be graded, cleaned and sanitized and professionally packaged for the market as this would ensure that cross- contamination of products are never to be on the regional markets. All by- products should be done by creating the environment where the private sector can flex its technology into competitive items for the increasing demand on the Caricom market.
These will in turn be sold at huge farmer depots in every Caribbean country, where the brand name “DOMINICA” shall be made known and quality products can be offered for sale in the raw and processed state. This will not eliminate the hucksters but only assist them with better packaging and appearance at the market level, however, to motivate more hucksters to aid in the distribution, a discount will be given to hucksters who buy directly from center. New industries such as pharmaceutical, feed plants, fertilizer plants, juice, jams and jellies, milk and chocolates, coffee, Soya products, abattoirs etc will be established.
The Minister of Agriculture will coordinate these three pillars with a qualified and experience team (not Mr. Registe not Mr. Walters) where systems in marketing, SPS, codex, organics, HACCP, ISO, GMPS and SSOPs can navigate the markets and competition on the regional markets can be eliminated. Sound and competent employees will lead each department, and thousands of lucrative jobs and businesses will be created.
Farmers will be trained on how to manage and not just how to plant and grow.
These managers will also demonstrate their skills not only on the field but in the classrooms at the state college and with the help of N.A.Y.A, they will motivate our youths to love and appreciate agriculture for generations to come. Yes, this will surely be a grand investment, but this would create the enabling environment for a productive, efficient sector and we can now ask our friends and partners/ Governments out there to help with grants.
THEN AND ONLY THEN WILL THE STAKEHOLDERS IN AGRICULTURE STEP UP SIR. TOO MUCH TALK SIR.
Nature Island Farms (N.I.F) is inevitable, it’s ours
i think that you hit the nail on the head with your discourse on how the agricultural sector can be improved and mobilized to increase production. the only aspects of the plan that you didn’t touch is the need for agroprocessing faciities which would create an additional market for farmers, add value the the raw materials used and reduce the price of certain products to the Dominican market. there is also a need to increase the production of poultry and small ruminants. poultry and meat products importation exceeds 20 million dollars a year in dominica if we could make half of that stay we would have a multi million dollar industry in dominica from poultry alone!! there is so much more to discuss but then again who listens???
Agri- Business Center should be established so that every farmer, anyone with a back yard can come in and sell their produce at the established market value. Raw materials should be graded, cleaned and sanitized and professionally packaged for the market as this would ensure that cross- contamination of products are never to be on the regional markets. All by- products should be done by creating the environment where the private sector can flex its technology into competitive items for the increasing demand on the Caricom market.
Well reasoned. You need to be a part of the Agriculture department for to make a cogent argument like you did, you have the knowledge base and the required prerequisite to be a part of agriculture in DA for the 21 Century. But be mindful that your ideas are grand and you have to cater for contingencies ( what if’s) because this task is a steep one…. I hope you are not just all talk too, not to attck you, because in DA we have a lot of ideas on paper, but lack the implementation plan…
I nonetheless recommend you for MR Registe’s job!!!
I know you and you know me. I am and will always be part of the Agriculture family. I desperately want to contribute to the Agricultural sector in Dominica once given the opportunity and together we can make this plan on paper become a reality.
I have carefully planned this and with the input of all stakeholders, we can conquer all what if’s.
So shoot me an email.. I am also largely about conservation and sustainable agriculture.. Great idea.. Homeeze@ yahoo.com
YESSSSSSSSSSSS suck it to him.
That was in response to “FARMER FOR LIFE” comment.
Let me be one of the first. Who is Edward Registe and what qualifications does he have to speak about agriculture? (Well, besides the obvious PIP). The governmnet has categorically ignored the agricultural sector, more precisely the banana industry and now you hypocrites speak about stakeholders? Are you insinuating that stakeholders are the ones responsible for the state of agriculture in Dominica? Very few people ever thought of agriculture as a thing for poor people. That was long before the educated ones found out that agriculture is money.
I wish you luck on your expo because I want you to take the visitors to our lovely farms. I want you to escort them to see how our farmers are prospering. Now that you are going to be embarassed you are pleading to farmers to make you look good? Well, I am so sorry for you. If ever you were a farmer you would know that agriculture needs a lot of assistance. Five bags of fertilizer will not do it. You would also know that without markets we are doomed. Go educate yourself about agriculture first and then talk to farmers. We cannot help you You needed to help us a few months even years back. We could do with a 10 million dollar injection into the industry. We left farming because we had no choice. Find out what our options are and then come speak to us.
By the way, what is the meaning of ‘Registe said the aim to redirect the focus on what agriculture has constructed to the Dominican economy.’ I am totally lost. We all know the contribution that agriculture has made to the Dominican economy. What you have done is to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. Invest in agriculture and then you can get returns. By the way what game are we supposed to step up? What adjustments are we supposed to make? How are we supposed to compete with a container of imported cabbage? Any ideas Mr. Registe? I am listening.
Likewise, I hope that Mr Registe will “set up his game” and make sure that information sent out to “foreign nationals” is better “constructed” than this press release/interview.
Thank you!!
The only ‘farms’ they will take the visitors to see are those that get preferential treatment
Am waiting for the ideas from Mr. Registe
October is not far away sir!
I agree.
Wow… Great response. You are 100% true. DNO please provide my email so I can communicate with this person. They are what the industry needs!!!!! [email protected].. Farmer for Life.. Shoot me an email!!!!
Cant wait to read the comments on this article…………………