Prime Minister, Dr. the Right Honourable Keith Mitchell, has cited\u00a0\u00a0praedial larceny and creating greater efficiency in the Farm Labour Support Programme\u00a0as major issues to be addressed by the Ministry of Agriculture.<\/p>\n
Dr. Mitchell shared this view during his meeting Wednesday with the new Minister of\u00a0\u00a0Agriculture, Lands and Forestry, Honourable Peter David and the senior staff within that\u00a0\u00a0ministry as well as top officials in the Ministry of Labour.<\/p>\n
Despite recent initiatives taken by the Government, including the amendment of\u00a0\u00a0legislation, praedial larceny continues to be a problem area for farmers.<\/p>\n
Dr. Mitchell said, \u201cWe need to come up with innovative ways to provide greater security\u00a0\u00a0for our farmers. What we have done, has helped, but we need to do more to help farmers\u00a0\u00a0safeguard their crops. They are frustrated with the constant pilfering of their produce and\u00a0\u00a0it is not fair to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister further stated, \u201cIf we are encouraging young people to see agriculture\u00a0\u00a0as a viable business to invest in, then we must seek innovative ways to ensure that other\u00a0\u00a0persons do not reap the benefits of their hard labour. We must make greater use of\u00a0\u00a0technology and demonstrate to farmers that we are committed to working closely with\u00a0\u00a0them to curb this problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the Government explores initiatives to spur economic activity as part of its recovery\u00a0\u00a0strategy to combat the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Mitchell suggested that\u00a0\u00a0areas like sea moss production can be used to generate business while at the same time,\u00a0\u00a0create opportunities for young people.<\/p>\n
On the subject of Government\u2019s Farm Labour Support Programme, Dr. Mitchell said,\u00a0\u00a0while this is a useful initiative, it must be properly managed to ensure maximum benefit\u00a0\u00a0for farmers. He said, \u201cAs we focus more on optimising expenditure, we must ensure that\u00a0\u00a0initiatives such as these are operated efficiently and that they are having the desired<\/p>\n
impact on beneficiaries. We need to closely examine the programme and ensure that\u00a0\u00a0Government\u2019s investment is in fact benefitting farmers.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister has also reiterated the need for agricultural commodity boards to\u00a0\u00a0better serve the need of farmers. He said, \u201cThese commodity boards have existed for\u00a0\u00a0decades but under the present structure, farmers have no real benefit. We must liberalise\u00a0\u00a0and effect real change in the lives of farmers. I repeat here today that Government is not\u00a0\u00a0interested in controlling these boards, what we are seeking to do, is to ensure that they\u00a0\u00a0empower our farmers. I speak from the heart, as the son of a farmer \u2013 if we do not effect\u00a0\u00a0change, we would be doing a serious disservice to the farming community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Mitchell expressed confidence that under the leadership of Honourable Peter David,\u00a0\u00a0the Ministry of Agriculture will build on past successes and undertake initiatives that will\u00a0\u00a0foster growth and development in the sector.<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cThe COVID-19 pandemic has created challenges but it has also unveiled\u00a0\u00a0opportunities. One such opportunity is a renewed focus on agriculture \u2013 a lot of people\u00a0\u00a0are going back to farming and there is evidence of this with the many roadside stalls with\u00a0\u00a0agricultural produce, that are now visible across the country. I am confident that under\u00a0\u00a0the leadership of Minister David, we can harness this revival and take the necessary steps\u00a0\u00a0to ensure a full resurgence of this vital sector.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Prime Minister, Dr. the Right Honourable Keith Mitchell, has cited\u00a0\u00a0praedial larceny and creating greater efficiency in the Farm Labour Support Programme\u00a0as major issues to be addressed by the Ministry of Agriculture. Dr. Mitchell shared this […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7044","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-government-news"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"adminrfm","author_link":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/author\/adminrfm\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Government News<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Prime Minister, Dr. the Right Honourable Keith Mitchell, has cited\u00a0\u00a0praedial larceny and creating greater efficiency in the Farm Labour Support Programme\u00a0as major issues to be addressed by the Ministry of Agriculture. Dr. Mitchell shared this [...]","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7044"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7045,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7044\/revisions\/7045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}