Private sector pumped $100m into agriculture

AGRICULTURE Minister Clarence Rambharat said there has been about $100 million of private-sector investment in agriculture.

He was speaking with the media on Wednesday after the opening of Parliament.

Rambharat said at present there is about $100 million in private-sector investment being made in agriculture, namely: the Nutrimix hatchery on Rivulet Road, Couva; another smaller hatchery; Central Farms (duck farms), which is expanding and is about a $20 million investment; the public-private partnership has been completed for the Aripo Livestock Station with Marilissa Farms, which is a $30-$40 million investment; and a project with an organic beef and lamb producer in Couva ($2-$3 million).

“So that is the type of thing we’ve seen – once we have been able to allocate land and to satisfy the people in relation to land tenure, they will make the investment, and that is the direction we have to go.”

He said the actual budget allocation for the ministry last year was just over $1 billion and explained it has allocations in different places. He pointed out, for example, the Moruga Agro-Industrial Estate would not be in the ministry’s allocation, because it is under the Trade Ministry. He said the PSIP was about $89 million, “and we were able to do some work with that.”

Asked if he expected the same figure this year, Rambharat replied, “I would be happy with what I got last year, because I understand the circumstances we have been operating in long before 2015.

“We don’t have the revenue flow that we used to have. The pie has to be shared in a particular way, and whatever we get, we make that work.”