PM: More for agriculture in second term

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has promised to engage in agricultural diversification if she is returned to office.

She was speaking to farmers shortly before she distributed compensatory cheques to 500 cane farmers at Enchanted Gardens complex, New Grant, last week.

The funds were allocated by the European Union to address the negative social and economic impact following the closure of Caroni (1975) Ltd in 2003. Persad-Bissessar said even though the funds were long in coming, her Government was happy to finally facilitate the payment of the first tranche of $27 million.

Promising to advance agriculture into a strong, stable and viable industry, Persad-Bissessar said she hoped to use agriculture to provide good incomes and jobs to many people.

She said since the National Food Action Plan 2012-2015 was implemented over 38,000 metres of agriculture access roads were rehabilitated.

“Water management and availability have vastly improved, with over 213 ponds constructed and over 226,000 metres of river courses desilted. An enhanced Agriculture Incentive Plan was developed and by fiscal year 2013-2014, a total of 3,390 applications for agricultural incentives were processed,” Persad-Bissessar said. That, she added, was aimed at small farmers and amounted to $18.8 million.

“By June 2014, Cabinet extended this plan by approving a further enhanced Agricultural Incentive Programme to cater for large farms and by the end of April 2014, 391 loans, with a value of $100,728,608, were approved by the Agriculture Development Bank for agricultural service, agro processing, marine fishery, ornamental fishery, food crops, forestry and livestock,” she said.

With the establishment of the National Praedial Larceny Squad in 2013, Persad-Bissessar said 51 people were arrested and 75 offences detected.

She said the Commercial Large Farms Programme (CLFP) has also been successful as 12 large-scale farms were operating productively.

“This has no doubt helped us to reach the landmark achievement of a 5.1 per cent expansion in food production and a two per cent reduction in the food import bill by March last year,” she said.

Planning Minister Dr Bhoe Tewarie said if Government returned to office, farmers would continue to get loans at preferential rates.

Taken from Guardian T&T