Daniel: THA agri incentives inadequate

While commending the efforts of the THA Division of Food Production, Forestry and Fisheries, president of the Tobago Agricultural Society Dedan Daniel say the division's stimulus package was inadequate.

This follows the announcement by the division that it would offer financial incentives, land, equipment and planting materials to heighten food production on the island in response to the adverse impact of covid19 on the agriculture sector.

On Tuesday, THA Deputy Chief Secretary and Secretary of Finance and Economy Joel Jack said $7.5 million has been allocated to the initiative which includes: land preparation services, crop production incentives, production of planting materials for free distribution, increasing the supply of starter livestock, crop irrigation, greater involvement of youth in agriculture through distribution, agro-processing, home gardening and post-harvest storage facilities.

Farmers will benefit from cash incentives for the production per acre of specific crops including: sweet potato, cassava, vegetables ($3,000), pigeon peas, banana and plantains ($5,000). Farmers will get $3,000 per acre for herbs and spices but must be producing a minimum of half acre.

Farmers will also be able to utilise tractor pool services free of charge for land preparation activities.

Speaking with Newsday by phone on Wednesday, Daniel said he has serious concerns with what is presented on paper, noting that his initial thoughts were that the assembly was at odds with the reality of the agriculture sector.

“While we commend the effort, they have fallen short on expectation. What was needed was proper consultation with Tobago Agricultural Society and other key stakeholders.”

Daniel said he expected more innovative and new thinking.

“These are but a restatement of existing services that farmers have challenges in accessing.”

He said what the society expected was “urgency in commissioning a new land management committee whose term expired since September last year; a fast-tracking process for issuing land licences or lease applications of farmers that have been languishing in bureaucracy for years; a dedicated soft loan and grant programme for agriculture; incentives for farmers to utilise new and emerging technologies in food production like aquaponics, hydroponics, aeroponics; a clear, coherent policy on crop production in alignment with consumer demand; a commitment to rebuilding the marketing infrastructure to include packing house, a wholesale farmers' market, a properly functioning abattoir facility; quality assurance mechanisms and proper market co-ordination.”

The measures announced on Tuesday included an incentive for increasing the supply of starter livestock to alleviate the burden on Government livestock stations for meeting the demands for starter livestock, particularly pig and small ruminants like goat and sheep.

The division intends to offer an incentive of 100 per cent the total cost of irrigation systems – water pump, equipment, infrastructure – up to a maximum of $35,000, aimed at encouraging vital year-round production.

Daniel said, “The thing about these incentives is, farmers have to spend the money upfront and then they’re reimbursed. Being able to make the investments referred to with the incentives is what concerns us greatly. A front-end type of incentive scheme would work best, say matching 50-50 for example.

“As to the amount, when one examines sector-wide linkages across the value chain from seeds to feed to value-added processed and packaged food products in terms of the actual capital and operating cost of doing agribusiness, it’s woefully inadequate.”

He is once again calling for a meeting with Chief Secretary Kelvin Charles.

“We at TAS have made several and repeated overtures to the Chief Secretary for over two years to have a serious and involved meeting to address issues and come up with solutions. He has not (obliged) and with him demitting office at the end of the month, we have serious concerns.”