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Farmer Kyle Joseph, left, and NKosi Toney, hold kids at Melchi Farms Ltd, Carnbee, Tobago. File photo/David Reid

The Tobago Agriculture Society says it is pleased with the measures that have been announced for the sector in the 2023 budget.

Agriculture received an allocation of $1.3 billion.

In his presentation in the House of Representatives on Monday, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said the government was committed to boosting local production geared toward agro-processing to reduce the reliance on highly processed imported food. This, he said, is in keeping with the Caricom agenda.

He added the government also intends to build a more effective sector based on sustainable value chains using innovation, digitisation and technology, engagement of the private sector, small farmers, youth and women.

Imbert said the government was also focusing on root crop flour as a cheaper alternative to wheat flour, the price of which continues to increase as a result of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Micheson Neptune, a farmer for the last 20 years, cuts lettuce for sale at his garden in Mt Pleasant, Tobago. File photo/David Reid

The minister said the government intends to expand the enterprise base for root drop flour by extending the financial coverage of the Grant Fund Facility from 50 to 75 per cent and increase the maximum funding amount from $250,000 to $340,000 for all producers of alternatives to wheat flour.

On Thursday, the Tobago Agricultural Society’s PRO Hollis Alexander told Newsday agriculture “seems to be on the right track.” However, he said he is yet to determine if this is really so as “I am not in possession of all the data on areas of agriculture, vegetative and animal husbandry, farming acreage, techniques, projected yields, pest and diseases and market capacity to give a definite answer as to agricultural growth.”

Alexander said many of these areas were “touched on by financial inputs” in the presentation.”But it remains to be verified whether such inputs are enough or less than adequate.”

Alexander said the society is of the view that the $57.6 billion budget was balanced. He said they have seen positive growth patterns over the last three years in various key sectors of the economy, the targeted areas of growth for the next fiscal year, the focus on sustainable development in manufacturing, tourism, digitisation, infrastructure, housing and agriculture in both Trinidad and Tobago.

“We cannot help but conclude that it is balanced and well thought out with a view to continuing to build on what has been an attempt to diversify revenue, income streams, while decreasing expenditure overall plus managing debt repayment responsibly.”

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Three Grand Cayman Amazon parrots, Klakker, Chonky and Slim Jim, were set free at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park today (Saturday).

Assisting with the parrots’ release was Jane H?konsson, a zoologist and research officer with the Terrestrial Resources Unit at the Department of Environment (DoE).

Explaining how the parrots ended up at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, H?konsson explained that the trio were initially rescued last year from the Dart Nursery in West Bay after a Royal Palm tree they were nesting in fell over.

Describing why the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park may be an appropriate home for Klakker, Chonky and Slim Jim, H?konsson said that parrots “like more natural areas” and they can usually be found “literally anywhere there are fruit trees. “

Habitat being destroyed

H?konsson cautioned, however, that the available habitat for Grand Cayman parrots is decreasing.

With all the bulldozing of every natural habitat you can imagine, there is just enough breeding spaces for them.

[And] every time we look at satellite images, more and more green spaces disappear. So, they are at a real risk of extinction, especially on the Brac.

H?konsson said.

H?konsson also explained that there are matters beyond our control that impact habitat. One example is a natural disaster, like a hurricane.

With Grace we lost a lot of nesting trees.

[Then] when we had Paloma go through, we lost over 50 per cent of the Brac population.

If we have two consecutive storms, we would likely lose the Grand Cayman parrot.

H?konsson noted, however, that, notwithstanding the challenges there are things that the DoE can do to help with the parrot population.

H?konsson said:

What we can do as natural resource managers is to increase the population’s resilience so that they are more resilient to storms. But obviously, we’re not doing that. We’re decreasing their resilience by continually seeing declining populations due to mostly development, but also [through the] pet trade [where] people keep them for pets and farmers still shoot them because they would eat their mangoes.

Working with farmers

In relation to farmers, H?konsson referred to her existing working relationships with farmers.

H?konsson said:

I work with farmers to deter parrots from their farms through audio cues.

Every time I get a rescue bird, they scream when you are trying to take them to the vet and stuff.

So I’ve recorded those screams and we put it on the speaker system and parrots actually stay out of the farms when they hear other parrots in pain.

So it has really worked this year.

This year, I only tried on one farm, but he lost not a single mango.

H?konsson indicated that the DoE will continue to build good relationships with farmers, with the aim of helping them to protect their crops from parrots, while keeping the parrots safe.

More about Cayman Amazon Parrots

There are two Cayman parrots, one being the Grand Cayman Amazon and the other is the Cayman Brac Amazon. These are understood to be sub-species of the Cuban Amazon.

The Grand Cayman Amazons are endemic to Grand Cayman. According to a census completed by DoE and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in 2015, it is estimated that there are 6000 parrots.

The Cayman Brac Amazons are endemic to Cayman Brac. The foregoing census indicated that there are about 600 parrots in Cayman Brac, some of which go to Little Cayman from time to time.

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Rédaction web
Samedi 1 Octobre 2022 – 14h33

Sur le même sujet

  Pluies et orages : la Martinique …

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The Guyana Government is slated to meet with representatives from the Canadian company, CGX Energy Inc, next week to intensify discussions on the deep-water port facility that is being constructed in Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).

This is according to Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat, when contacted for an update on CGX’s Berbice Deep-Water Port (BDWP) project.

Previously, the Government had expressed concerns over the slow pace of the project and had given the company up to September month-end to submit a plan on how it intends to move forward with the port facility.

Minister Bharrat disclosed to Guyana Times that he will be meeting with the company representatives early next week to have “general discussions” on the project.The CGX deep-water harbour project has been in the works since 2010.

CGX’s subsidiary, Grand Canal Industrial Estates Inc (GCIE), has been engaged in civil works related to the construction of the US$130 million Berbice Deep-Water Port, which intends to serve as an offshore supply base for the oil and gas industry, and as a multi-purpose terminal cargo handling base to service agricultural import/export, containerised and specialised cargo.

Initially, it was expected that the offshore oil and gas support shore base would be operationalised by the third quarter of 2022, and the cargo terminal by the end of 2023.However, in its financial statements in August, CGX informed shareholders that it would be unable to meet the 2022 deadline and that a revised schedule for completion is being discussed with the contractor.

“As a result of certain delays, the Company believes it is unlikely that the offshore supply base of the port will be fully operational in Q4, 2022 as previously envisioned. A revised schedule for completion of the offshore supply base of the port is being discussed with the contractor and the Company anticipates providing an updated timeline to shareholders and stakeholders in due course,” CGX said in its Second Quarter Financial Statement released on August 9.

Given its slow-paced operation, the Guyana Government had CGX relinquish two oil exploration blocks offshore – Demerara and Berbice – to the State, so that the company can focus on operations in the Corentyne Block as well as the deep-water port facility.

President Dr Irfaan Ali has already indicated that Guyana has gotten serious interest from Abu Dhabi Ports, a United Arab Emirates-based company that deals in industrial zones and logistics, in establishing a deep-water facility in Berbice.

In fact, a technical team from the company visited in September 2021 and compiled technical information on the project.

While in Dubai last October, the Guyanese Head of State also met with officials from Abu Dhabi Ports known as Khalifa Port during which they had extensive and in-depth discussions on the possibility of developing a deep-water harbour link to Brazil.

“The interest is great in this project… And they are looking at a modern state-of-the-art port facility operated with cutting-edge technology, focusing on efficiency, safety and security… Their initial assessment is one of great optimism. That’s how they described it. They believe that this a project that can happen; that is a project that is viable. They are now working on the nitty-gritty, the finer details in terms of this project,” the President told reporters at the subsequent press conference.

Meanwhile, during President Ali’s meeting in Dubai with officials from Abu Dhabi Ports, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, who is also the owner, operator, developer, and regulator of Abu Dhabi’s maritime infrastructure and Khalifa Industrial Zone (KIZAD), had said they are very serious about investing in Guyana.

“We are serious about Guyana, and I promise you we passed the time of thinking, now we are in the implementation stage. So, what you will see today is the capability of Abu Dhabi Ports,” Al Shamisi said to the Guyanese leader following a tour of Abu Dhabi Ports’ ultra-modern temperature-controlled vaccine storage warehouse facility.

President Ali had emphasised to the group that his Government is willing to facilitate the project by creating incentives and by ensuring that investments made are feasible for all parties involved.

“We are ready to work with you on having that deep-water port ready for not only Guyana but for the region. And for the most important strategic positioning for the UAE in South America, the Caribbean—in Latin America. I think we could just think about it as an upscaled Panama [Canal] development,” the Head of State told the officials.

Moreover, the President had indicated at the time had Guyana wanted to build a strong partnership with Abu Dhabi Ports to create a new logistics hub for the UAE that will connect business opportunities in South America, Central America, the Caribbean, North America, and West Africa.

In addition to Abu Dhabi Ports, President Ali told the Stabroek News in August that there is also interest from other investors in the deep-water port in Berbice. These include Saudi Arabia, Qatar and a local consortium of port operators as well.

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