The National Foodcrop Farmers' Association (NFFA) is moving to slash the staggering $4-billion food import bill by half, within the next 18 months. And the members are calling on the People's Partnership administration to allow Cepep workers to play an integral role in helping T&T obtain food security, affordable food prices, and to produce more local food. Education and research officer of the NFFA, Norris Deonarine, said they intended to cut the increasing bill by encouraging its 19,000 registered farmers to grow a variety of foods and rear livestock. Deonarine said they were also looking to woo approximately 11,000 additional farmers, who abandoned their lands back, into the sector to ramp up food production. Tonnes of staples, peas and beans, vegetables, fruits, spices, meats and fruits juices are imported, taking T&T's food import bill over the years to an astronomical figure. Foods such as onions, garlic, carrots, peas, beans, spices and even grapes, which T&T has been importing for decades to feed its 1.3 million population, Deonarine said, could be grown on state and privately- owned lands.
Deonarine said Government's Tucker Valley Mega-Farm in Chaguaramas, which has been producing poor yields and under-utilised Caroni 1975 Ltd lands were two locations being considered by its association to increase agricultural contribution. The NFFA is also looking to introduce corn, cassava and even breadfruit flour on the market, which Deonarine insisted was far more healthy than white flour. In the past, Deonarine said Paramin farmers grew carrots on a large scale, but its production declined when government started importing the orange-coloured vegetable. "There is no doubt it we can increase food production and cut the food bill by half in the coming 18 months, once we have a proper machinery in place," said Deonarine. "Once we have the right conditions, a proper framework, the backing of the Food Production Ministry and empower the farming community, we can achieve our goals."
What would also be needed for the farmers, Deonarine said, were incentives, land tenure, proper drainage, irrigation systems, agricultural access roads, hassle-free loans, subsidised machinery, seeds, chemicals and fertilisers. Deonarine said in order to reduce the food import bill, the NFFA would require adequate labourers, which can be sourced from Cepep. Deonarine said one of the incentives the Government needed to offer was a higher pay package to Cepep workers, once they got into the fields. "Right now, farmers pay labourers as much as $150 a day to work the land. This should be offered to them." Deonarine said with the decline in the agriculture industry, labourers over the years moved on to other pursuits. "This might also be an opportunity where Cepep workers can branch off into their own farms, after obtaining practical training. It might help them get out of the dependency syndrome."
During the coming weeks, Deonarine said the NFFA would try and engage a meeting with Local Government Minister Chandresh Sharma, under whose ministry Cepep falls. Deonarine said it was no hidden secret that thousands of farmers abandoned their private fields because of bureaucracy, frustration and red tape, and the NFFA was working at all costs to bring them back into the lands. "We need all hands on deck; not only the seasoned farmers, but young people as well who will be able to continue the trade." This, among other issues, came up for discussion during a retreat yesterday at Paria Suites, which Food Production Minister Vasant Bharath attended. The retreat is expected to wrap up today. Admitting that for years the agriculture industry had been neglected, Deonarine said the Government needed to undertake several projects for it to become viable, worthwhile and feasible. "We need to get these things going immediately. The challenge is not for the farmers to grow the food. What we need is the necessary things put in place."