Officials of CARDI, Renwick and SLBS at Head Table
A “noticeable” decline in the island’s production of root crops has prompted supermarket and retail chain Consolidated Foods Limited (CFL) to embark on a partnership that seeks to reignite an interest in the sector.
According to a press release, CFL has partnered with a number of organisations under this initiative.
According to Dunstan Demille, perishables manager for Consolidated Foods Ltd, farmers in the last 10 years have appeared to gradually move away from the more challenging cultivation of root and tuber crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and cabbage which take an average of six to 12 weeks to grow.
The release said that last week, CFL initiated a brainstorming session with the Ministry of Agriculture’s Marketing Department, the Tissue Culture Lab, the Caribbean Agriculture Research and Development Institute, Renwick and Company, and local farmers to develop strategies to revive interest in this sector.
In his address to the over 25 farmers at the meeting, Demille urged the gathering to capitalise on this unique opportunity.
“We at CFL have acknowledged our role in guiding you our farmers on what needs to be produced in order to feed the nation, now it is your turn to take this programme to a level of seriousness so that we can get the necessary volumes to eventually be able to reduce our import bill. With this new approach we aim to achieve a number of objectives which include consistency of supply and the introduction of more market-stable varieties of roots and tubers to our market. Working alongside our agricultural partners we are confident that we will all reap great rewards with this programme,” he said.
Renwick and Company, as the leading supplier of agricultural supplies, has thrown its support behind the CFL initiative to increase production of root crops, a critical ingredient in the promotion of food security and the reduction of the island’s huge food import bill, the release said.
CFL said that agricultural development is a core area of support for CFL (operators of Super J IGA, Mega J and GF Foodmarket). The company also said it has a number of initiatives in place to support the growth and development of CFL-registered farmers, including a loan fund and preferential pricing for certified farmers.
The company said it has also taken a keen interest in agriculture, being one of two major contributors to HOOPSS, a programme which underpins the existing agricultural programmes offered at primary and secondary schools and allows students to be exposed to agriculture technologies and agribusiness.