Agricultural sector in Dominica has improved – Wiltshire

Coordinator of the National Fair Trade Organization in Dominica Amos Wiltshire says assistant from the Dominica Labour Party government to farmers on the island has significantly improved the sector.

Wiltshire said that farmers have seen improvement in their production as a result of several initiatives, including a $1 million facility at the AID Bank.

“Once farmers get assistance they will do what must be done and we have seen an upsurge in banana production and figures are going up. The $1 million placed at the AID Bank have also resulted in the increase in production because the funds are being used to improve farms and plant new crops,” he said.

According to Wiltshire more improvements are expected to be seen in the sector.

“Dominica is one the islands producing bananas for the extra regional market and I see production continuing to go up,” he said.

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13 Comments

  1. February 3, 2012

    Amos cannot be serious.He must be sick
    He knows well his statement is crap.

  2. LOL
    March 12, 2011

    How you expect the agri sector to grow when farmers have to sit down and listen to groovy bat and dirty Mat every morning. After their show over the sun too hot to work. Further more people going to their garden vex. The plants can sense that and they dont grow even if you give them a whole bag of fertilizer. People wake up.

  3. Lord!
    March 11, 2011

    Dr. Wilt my friend. How much money Skerrit pay you to say that?

  4. Woshhhhhhh!!
    March 11, 2011

    I would eat one of those pineapples there boy

  5. Smallville
    March 11, 2011

    COME ON! we have to stop with the banana thing. its in the past! its not big anymore the 80’s and 90’s was 20-30 years ago. we have so many other massive amounts of fruits and vegetables growing here. mangoes always growing on trees and just falling to rot on the ground while we importing mango juice and dehydrated fruits coconut milk etc.. we need to open a processing plant so that we can process the vegetables and fruits which we can grow. Bello is trying to export their pepper sauce and other products, asking for farmers to come work for them. why do farmers still want to try to latch on to bananas?! we need a food processing plant, time for farmers to move on from bananas to other products and export more things than we import to help our economy to grow.

    • kiki
      March 11, 2011

      that is so true we need a processing plant in Dominica.. We are blessed with so many different fruits in DA, and it’s a shame we do not have a factory to process fruit juices..
      mangoes, oranges, grape fruit, guavas, paw paw, banana, when these fruits are in season, they just fall down and rot on the ground.. Just going to waste.

      I always say DA is poor in a sense of low employment and money, but at the same time we are rich with natural resources which we can process and make a lot of money..
      We have so many herbs, where we can process to make medicine..
      We really need to look in these things and stop focusing just on bananas..
      The lord has bless us with lots of fresh organic fruits and vegetables, lets make good use of what we have..
      AGAIN, WE NEED A FRUIT FACTORY IN DOMINICA!!!
      pLZ GOV’NT OF DA LOOK INTO THAT..!!!

      • DA to D Bone
        March 12, 2011

        I do support the call for ( not just one) but a processing village. We have the natural resources but we still lack the human resources. The new generation needs to take on maths and science more vigorously, and we do need facilities supported by trained personnel to educate the youths………..its not just saying we need it, due diligence must take place to cover the process that are associated to it. There are many Food Safety issues and/or FBI (Food Born Illness) that can hinder or destroy the physical structure or the very idea that we all calling to become a reality. Training in HACCP, GMPs, and SSOPs and standards are imperative for the survival of any agro- processing plant, hence the need for math and science. Bello too is having its fair share of this very problem.

        Another real constraint is that the Dominican public is asking for the physical structure to be built, but when products are made and are on the shelves in our supermarkets, next to those products of other regional or international companies, we belittle our own, calling it inferior ( even if our quality is much better and meets ISO standards.

        The Dominican cliche “crabs in a barrel” tends to take effect when buying items. Our mentality needs to change and we need to support local products as we have the power to make these processing units work and not satisfy the calls of just building a physical structure that may become a white elephant. We have many superb items being produce here in the Nature Isle, but, the Dominican consumers/customers will buy water from Barbados ( a country with no rivers or natural wells) and pass loubiere bottled water or that from any Dominican company.

        90% of the bloggers that ask for these facilities to be build are the very culprits who will not support local and do not understand the dynamics of the manufacturing sector. Please, it take much more than the Government, farmers or the private sector initiative to get these lucrative ideas to get off the ground, it will take the Nation to support them and make them work.

        Dominicans, are we really ready to make this work?? Are we ready for Nature Island farms??

      • only
        March 13, 2011

        So why doesn’t the govt. take some of that borrowed money and build a processing plant rather than presidential palace? Then they can stop overcharging people at the port.

  6. Poule Coutouni
    March 11, 2011

    Amos has lost it. I hear the cry of farmers who cannot get their produce to market. Still endless abandoned lands and BAD feeder roads… What the hell is this Amos talking about!

    • Jude
      March 11, 2011

      Cannot get their produce to market?? Didnt you hear farmers shipping produce on LIAT Air Cargo to various islands in the region?

  7. Ca Kway Tonae!!
    March 11, 2011

    Admin,

    Is there a written report available, so we can compare the stats? We are fed-up of administrators and CEO’s simply making claims without providing the numbers.

    We will not question what the man’s eyes have seen. As locals would say, “Let your eyes boil your peas.”

    We are not implying any negative and/or even suspect motives. Just wish for the day when empirical research will drive our social and economic ambitions.

    Simply put, it is about time we approach all aspects of our development informed by scientific findings.

    Admin: contact the National Fair Trade Organization in Dominica.

  8. What dat!
    March 11, 2011

    The truth will surely hurt some. Expect negative postings

    • ROCKSY
      March 11, 2011

      or no postings…

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