The Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS) is taking Government to task for not putting enough measures in place to foster increased food production in Barbados.On Monday during the launch of the Capacity Building in Papaya Production at the Ministry of Agriculture headquarters, Graeme Hall, Christ Church, chief executive officer of the BAS James Paul said he was concerned that the ministry was hosting a number of talkshops that may not lead to improved yields. He was also worried about the lands being taken out of agricultural production for “foolishness”.“We talk about the 25 by 25 initiative (CARICOM’s goal to reduce food imports by 25 per cent by 2025). We like to come up with these phrases in the agriculture sector because sometimes it seems that when we talk about growth that is what we mean. Every five or few years or so we come up with a buzzword that says that is something new, but it is distracting,” he said.“What we really need to see in the sector is real growth, real production. We need to stop this thinking that every time we hold a workshop that automatically things will happen.“A lot of these things will not mean anything, if at the end of the day you are not producing anything. Sometimes we bring together people in a beautiful building . . . but at the end of the day, what targets are we setting for the sector?”
