Government is taking steps to reverse a decision by two Caribbean islands to place restrictions on fruits from Dominica because of the deadly Black Sigatoka disease.
Recently the islands of Montserrat and Antigua imposed restrictions on the non commercial importation of Dominica’s bananas and plantains.
However, Head of the Plant Protection Quarantine Unit, Ryan Anselm, said government is currently negotiating to have the matter reversed.
He said several measures are already being put in place to tackle the disease head on, and soon Dominica will be able to convince its sister islands that they shouldn’t fear.
“The Ministry of Agriculture is aggressively negotiating with these countries. We have dialogued with the Plant Protection Organization of Montserrat, Antigua and St Kitts, in terms of getting a solution to the problem,” he said.
Anselm said under the International Plant Protection Convention, countries have an obligation to protect their agriculture sector and to protect human beings from plant health issues.
“The Black Sigatoka is an invasive species and once it has entered into your country, the natural reaction of your trading partner is to place a restriction,” he said.
Anselm also indicated that government is taking Black Sigatoka very seriously because of the potential impact on the economy.
“We know that banana and plantain is very important to the economy of Dominica. It contributes to the gross domestic product of the country and it is a source of livelihood for families,” he stated.
But we already know how Dominica runs, pure monarchy system.You can inherit significant positions as easy as you could inherit land, money and homage. But as the saying goes, to whom much is given much is required.
Surprisingly I was in dominica last year April/May and was going back to slu and saw a banana plantation a long the way to the airport and I saw the leaves with signs of black sigatoka, I knew how it looked because St. Lucia is just recovering from it, I really thought that the authorities knew about this then cause that is a whole year and plus ago…
What you saw was most likely the effects of the yellow sigatoka disease which Dominica has also been struggling to contain for that past few years…
were we serious about exporting food??? were we serious about our own food security???? hmmmm at a time when food prices are marked to increase next year….. HHHHHHHHHHAAAA strange coincidence don’t you find?
Dominica always seems to be chasing the horse long after it has bolted out of the stable…
what a blow this will be to agriculture even less state REVENUE now generated from this Valid and LUCRATIVE sector of our economy… this was a fat cow that was not being milked and largely ignored…and now MASTITIS is setting in…
in the holistic view of the scheme of things, ignoring and ignorance is truly bliss..
has anyone determined the origin of this disease???
Black Sigatoka has its origin in the Pacific region and was reported in 1963 in Fiji. Since then, it has spread to many countries in the South Pacific and South East Asia. In Africa it was identified in 1973 in Zimbabwe and then spread across East and West Africa. In 1973 the fungus appeared in Central America, specifically in the area of La Lima, Republic of Honduras. It reached Belize in 1975, Costa Rica in 1979 and Panama in 1980. It has since reached other banana producing countries in South America.
Source: bayercropscience.co.za
multiple bed partners always leaves you with something….
How did Black Sagota get to Dominica, who brought it in.?
“They”(that is “them” that always know) say on the radio is from the Venezuelans (the fungus is present in Venezuela) who was working on the Melville Hall expansion project – cause they were allowed to bring in all their fig and plantain without any permit nor restrictions…
Haven’t heard the authorities mention anything about tracing the source …
But have no fear cause Skerrit papa Chavez sending his experts to the rescue…
Thank “god” for Skerrit!!!!
Well what a shame that Dominica of all countries in the Caribbean did not take early steps to reduce the impact of this crop disease in Dominica. This is especially so given that so many of our people rely on agriculture for livelihood.
This stands to seriously affect the livelhood of many dominicans. The cruise ship business is getting smaller and the agricultural export is fast shutting down – what next will it be before people wake up from their slumber?
When the Gov’t did not even put aside money in the budget to pay the people in the citrus Unit, how can we expect the same Gov’t to have any plans in place to tackle these poisons that are affecting our crops??
The Venezuelans , brought in stuff to Marigot when they were working on the airport without it being checked by the customs authority, not because of their fault but that of the Gov’t who said to give them a pass. So now we are feeling the effects of of the actions of this incompetent Gov’t.
I am sorry to say that this is one area that we have seen, but many more to come in the economic and employment sections.
You guys at the ministry of agriculture dropped the ball on this one. This should have never gone to that extreme.
What would have mitigated these restrictions are ‘proper dialogue’ and a proactive approach.
These governments made hasty decisions in their national interest. We cannot blame them for that.
These islands in questions should have already been informed of the situation and explained how we are handling the situation.
We are now being reactive but the damage has already been done. I do hope that no further damage will continue.
As is said: better late than never. I do hope that we all learn a vital lessen from this one
A house divided against itself cannot stand. If we are going to use our freedom of thought and expression to castigate and denigrate each other at every opportunity then we have defeated ourselves. It is not what goes in that defiles but every word that comes out of our mouth.
Christians in Dominica!! Arise and speak death to that Black Sigatoka and everything else coming against the blessings of God in Dominica!!
YEAH, SKERRIT!!!!!
where you see christians in dominica..a bunch of corupt hipocrites..
Prayer without work is dead. We have to help ourselves with the help of God. God does not like laziness!!
We knew Black Sigatoka was coming and we were supposed to prepare for it knowing how serious it is. How much monitoring and testing were done in preparation? We were caught sleeping. Or is the Ministry of Agriculture overwhelmed and is being managed by pests and diseases? Who is the Plant Pathologist in the Plant Protection Quarantine Unit? Just Asking.