As The Bahamas continues to make efforts to reduce its food import bill, the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) received a state-of-the-art feed mill imported from India.

Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources Hon. Jomo Campbell said, “I’m extremely excited by the arrival of this new feed mill.

“We will now be in a position to begin the remarkable journey of transformation the agricultural industry.”

This is the first time the country has had a new feed mill in over 40 years with the previous mill only being used to feed the animals at the ministry’s Gladstone Road Agricultural Centre (GRAC).

The feed mill cost the government $400,000 and will supply feed for livestock farmers across the country.

BAIC Chairman Leroy Major said, “The government has invested in a real feed mill that will supply feed continually for the entire country.”

Mr. Major added that this will cause farmers to save on expensive feed imports.

“The money can now stay in country,” he said. “This feed mill can now do crumble and pellets for an array of animals like fish, pigs, chicken, and much more.”

This will also play a vital role in the government’s Golden Yolk Programme, which was launched earlier this year.

This programme was created in hopes of slashing the country’s import bill by $12.5 million by seeking to increase Bahamian egg production from 750,000 to more than 27 million eggs per year.

“This feed mill is stage one for the Golden Yolk Programme, and stage two will consist of constructing chicken houses and we’ll continue from there,” Mr. Major said.

As a part of the sustainable food program, 38 new eggs houses are slated to be established on 12 islands throughout The Bahamas, with an aim for 13 million eggs to be produced in the Family Islands.

In light of this, Mr. Major is urging farmers across the archipelago to increase their livestock.

“I believe we will soon begin to see the benefit from this. This is a great work we are doing for the industry,” he said.