A top official at the Bahamas Agricultural & Industrial Corporation (BAIC) has confirmed that plans are underway to eliminate the $9,000 cap that limits how much produce farmers can bring into the country’s packing houses.

“That will be reviewed with a view that if we can market all that comes in we should not have a limit as to what the farmer is bringing because we need to increase production,” said Assistant General Manager of the Agricultural Division, BAIC, Arnold Dorsett.

“So, if the farmer can only bring $9,000 worth of commodity to the packing house then we are limiting him. If we were to review that and remove that and he can bring $18,000 worth and we can sell all $18,000 it’s better for him and we can provide more for the local market. So, that is under review and we’ll see some changes in that direction shortly.”

Mr. Dorsett was speaking at a news conference to announce the Andros Business Outlook, slated for May 15 at the Love at First Sight Hotel & Restaurant Hotel & Restaurant in Stafford Creek, Andros.

He noted that Prime Minister Perry Christie has agreed to allow BAIC to assume the management and marketing of the Produce Exchange. This was previously the Ministry of Agriculture’s responsibility.

“So, what we’re going to see in the short-term is that the Bahamas Agricultural Industrial Corporation will manage the marketing of the produce exchange and its network. That is going to cause some significant changes in some of the things that may be going on now,” Mr. Dorsett said.

BAIC, he noted, is also using a part of the Christie administration’s Charter for Governance mandate, which includes a 20-year agriculture plan.

“In that 20-year agriculture plan it talks about an import substitution strategy where we would be seeking to substitute some of the imported foods with locally produced commodities. You would have heard them talk about the $1 billion worth of food imports in The Bahamas and we want to take a portion of that and ensure that it’s used by local Bahamians,” said Mr. Dorsett.

Dr. Selima Campbell Hauber, a horticulturalist who recently launched an organic farm called Field to Fork Community Farms, is also slated to speak at next week’s Outlook.

“I hope that my presentation strongly encourages and inspires other producers to look at production from another standpoint. As you know, in our country and it’s also a global issue right now that many people are suffering from chronic, non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, both of which are directly related to food and diet,” she said.

“As producers we can play a significant role in not only creating an agriculture revolution, but a food revolution and thereby significantly improving our nation’s health. With the improvement of our health we can therefore ensure a productive and progressive nation.”

Dr. Omer Thomas, an agriculture expert and project consultant to the government on Bahamas Agricultural and Marine Sciences Institute (BAMSI), says he plans to discuss BAMSI’s relevance to the development of agriculture in The Bahamas and also how the institute will contribute in a “direct and meaningful way” in the economic development efforts of this country.

“It is said that we wish to have agriculture be the third pillar of economic growth and development in the country and this institute will provide the intellectual resources to support and underpin the efforts for development,” he said.

“We’ll be providing training in the academics, in skills and in other areas of agriculture. Agriculture is not farming alone; farming is only a small component of agriculture. At the institute we’ll be doing all the various aspects of agriculture so that our efforts will be felt in the economic measurement parameters of the country.”

Dr. Vallierre Deleveaux, a marine biologist and director of BAMSI is slated to speak on the marine environment and its contribution to entrepreneurship.

“My point of view is taking the point where we can develop new sources of revenue or make available new sources of revenue for Bahamians. One example that I’m working on is the development of aquaponics to show that in a relatively small area you can generate large volumes of produce as well as fish that can be sold and that would help to reduce seafood imports because we import a lot of seafood although we’re surrounded in a marine environment, so one of the things I’d like to do is to help reduce some of the seafood that we import or the fish we import,” said Dr. Deleveaux.

“Other components are, for example where we can help enhance exports of the products that we do produce. BAMSI is an educational as well as training institute . . . so we’ll provide training for students or fishermen who are already in the business or business leaders who are already involved in commercial exports. We can work to ensure that the products they export would be sustainable or in cases where there might be some concern internationally we can allay the fears of the international community about the sustainability of our products that we do export so that our products could have an open market and more ready market available to them internationally.

Mr. Dorsett said he believes the Andros Business Outlook would help to stimulate the development of agriculture.

Also slated to present at the Outlook are: Godfrey Eneas, president of Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute Ltd (BAMSI); Christopher Russell, director of forestry in the Ministry of the Environment; Veronica Owens, president of the North Andros Chamber of Commerce; Peter Douglas, executive director of Andros Conservancy and Trust (ANCAT); Eleanor Phillips, programme director, North Caribbean Programme at The Nature Conservancy and Prescott Smith, president of the Bahamas Sportfishing & Conservation Association.

To register for the Andros Business Outlook, contact Margaret Albury at The Counsellors Ltd: 242-322-7505 or visit www.tclevents.com.

Assistant General Manager of the Agricultural Division, BAIC, Arnold Dorsett; horticulturalist, Dr. Selima Campbell Hauber; TCL President, Joan Albury and Dr. Omer Thomas, an agriculture expert and project consultant to the government on Bahamas Agricultural and Marine Sciences Institute (BAMSI) and Dr. Vallierre Deleveaux, a marine biologist and director of BAMSI, address the media on next week’s Andros Business Outlook. (Photo/Wendell Cleare for The Counsellors Ltd.)