Minister Bharath: Investment needed in agriculture

The Food Production Ministry will for the first time be participating in this year’s Trade Investment Forum (TIC). Its focus will be on attracting the business community to invest in agiculture. The theme: Invest in Agriculture Now—Join the Agriculture Revolution. The TIC takes place from May 16 to 18 at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad hotel, Port-of-Spain. Interviewed last Friday at the launch of TIC’s six large pavilions at the Hilton Trinidad, St Ann’s, Food Production Minister Vasant Bharath said, “We want to get our business people interested in understanding that they don’t need to know about farming to be involved in the agriculture sector.” He said agriculture needs business owners who could bring the technology and capital investments. The idea is to take agriculture from the ground and turn it into a business.

 

 

 He explained that participating in TIC is a strategic approach to seize the opportunity and encourage the business community to invest. Bharath said the ministry plans on having the business community invest initially in key crops—cocoa, coconuts, pineapple and honey—that could create niche markets. “In order to meet our targets, I want them to invest along the value chain from primary production to processing, distribution marketing and retail trade.”  “We need to have entrepreneurial spirits in the sector, people who would look at agriculture as a business.” Vasant said the biggest concern is farmers producing more than they have markets for. He said businesss have submitted proposals to lease 4m233 acres of land. Institutions that fall under the purview of Food Production, like National Agrriculture Marketing and Development Corporation (Namdevco), is charged with ensuring there is sufficient storage capacity to hold surplus goods, he said.