News Date: July 20 2016
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Physical Planning, Natural Resources and Co-Operatives has initiated a drive to impact spur production amoung farmers.
Hon. Ezechiel Joseph, Minister for Agriculture, has stated that the government is intent on collating all facets necessary for a conclusive outcome.
“We are committed to the agriculture sector including fisheries and forestry, and we now have added responsibility—physical development and natural resources (which includes water.) We are now working on implementing a program that we articulated before elections that will impact positively on rural folk.”
The Minister said there are key factors that, if implemented into the agricultural sector, would yield positive results for agriculturalists.
“We believe that we can encourage farmers to get back into production, and what we are looking at is to implement policies that will create an environment that encourages production. One of the critical things is marketing. One would appreciate that marketing is critical in the agriculture sector, and you need to provide that safety net, so that when farmers are in production and they have harvested, they will be able to sell the produce and get a good return, which will encourage them to continue producing.”
The Minister defines the objectives of the ministry as ambitious but obtainable.
News Source: GIS News
