Farmers struggling with covid19 regulations

Local farmers are hit the hardest during the covid19 pandemic because they are struggling to get their produce off their hands said president of the Agriculture Society of TT Dhano Sookooo.

“Right now everything that sells at the market is ready for harvest. We have the produce but hardly anybody coming to the markets. Farmers are struggling and I don’t understand how the minister can say we will benefit from the stay-at-home measure.

“When you give people food cards, it cannot be tendered at the farmers or at a market stall. Those food cards can only be tendered in particular supermarkets like Massy Stores, True Valu and others."

In an interview on Wednesday, Sookoo explained that the situation has badly interfered with the farmer’s production capacity because people cannot go out as they are accustomed to.

Sookoo said normally people will make trips to the markets but since the shut down, people are hardly visiting the markets and prefer to make at least one trip to a supermarket where they can get everything at once.

“There is no cash flow. For a shopper to go to an open market it is cash that has to be tendered. The ministry needs to explain to us how this can help us.

“We have been asking the ministry, instead of giving food cards, they could make arrangement where they buy the produce from farmers and prepare boxes of $500 of food and distribute to householders, because people are at home now and cooking.”

Sookoo said now that the covid19 is affecting everybody globally, countries are not going to sell their food or produce because they are going to store it for their people.

She said if the government does not invest in the local agriculture sector and there is no policy or programme for development, there will always be a struggle for local farmers.

Marketing director of Arawak, Robin Phillips said although the consumption of chicken in TT is approximately one million heads per week, with the closure of the food service sector, it is expected to be reduced to 250,000 heads per week.

He said the company has all the chicken the country requires at this time and is self-sufficient in table eggs to cover the domestic market.

“The circle is 12 weeks and chicken is in the system for the next three months. This is more than satisfactory for the local domestic market. We expect the figure to drop because the food service sector has been shut down since Tuesday.

“There is an expectation on our side that the supermarkets and chop shops will see an increase but what we don’t know is how much their increase will equate because it is still in early days. We probably have to wait a week or two for us to be in a better position to make a statement,” Phillips said.

Asked how farmers could benefit from the “stay-at-home” measures put in place by the government, Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Clarence Rambharat said, from the outset, he had been out in the field ensuring that all municipal, farmers, wholesale and fish markets were open.

He said even as other business activities had been impacted by the covid19 all around the world, local farmers and fisherfolk could function.

“Markets are opened, supermarkets are open, roadside stalls can operate, agro processors and manufacturers using local produce can operate and all persons working in agriculture can work and be on the road.

“The farmers like every other business activity would lose some business. It is not as harsh as the rest of the country where thousands of workers are at home. Some businesses would take time to reopen.”

Rambharat said agriculture continues, perhaps at a slightly reduced level, but there is activity and sales.

He said the ministry would continue to look at others ways to provide support.

“I have made as proposals and when there are updates, I would provide those updates. In the interim I support fully the stay-at-home measures. I thank my colleagues for supporting agriculture by permitting the bulk of agriculture activities to continue.

“I welcome the campaign to cook your own food and I look forward to more and more of our citizens who cry for "food security" to come out to the markets, support our markets and cook their own food using local produce.”