BARBADOS PRODUCES 65 per cent of the food consumed here, and despite much fallow land lying about, food production has increased, says Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries Dr David Estwick.
He told the country yesterday that a White Paper on Agriculture, which should be going before Cabinet soon, would show that Barbados produced about 60 to 65 per cent of its food and that the island was self-sufficient in eggs, pork, chicken and a variety of vegetables.
Addressing the opening of the first food zone at The Glebe, St George, yesterday, he told agricultural officials gathered at St George’s Parish Church’s car park that when the White Paper was released after Cabinet discussion, its findings on agriculture would surprise many.
“When that document is released post-Cabinet evaluation, you’re going to be shocked that there is the usual hipshot reaction that because there has been a reduction in cane-growing and you see some added fallow land, that this is correlated to significantly poor production of food. That’s not the case. In fact, we have evidence in several areas that the converse has occurred,” he said in response to concerns about large tracts of former agricultural land now lying in bush.
