by Linda Straker
- Ministry of Agriculture national consultation scheduled for 14 September
- Finance Minister Dennis Cornwall recently presented the 2023 Mid-Year Review
- Review noted estimated decline of 5.5% for nutmeg production, 3.5% for cocoa and 10% for MNIB Purchases of Other Crops
People involved in the various industries of the agriculture sector will learn how that sector performed during the first half of 2023, and at the same time, identify priorities for 2024 when the Ministry of Agriculture holds a national consultation on 14 September.
Scheduled to take place in the eastern parish of St Andrew, which is known for massive agricultural productions, the flyer advertising the consultation said the 2 main objectives are sensitising stakeholders and soliciting their views.
“The objectives, sensitise stakeholders on the achievements of the sector over for the past year and provide an update on the economic performance of Grenada for the first half of the year and the growth prospect for the medium term,” said the flyer disseminated by the Government Information Service (GIS) through its Facebook page and via email.
Focusing on the future, the consultation will also “solicit your views and opinion on the challenges within the sector, solutions and prioritization of action for implementation within the 2024 budget.”
Finance Minister Dennis Cornwall recently presented the 2023 Mid-Year Review in the Lower House of Parliament. The review, which is now a public document, was prepared in August 2023. It said that the agricultural sector will experience a decline in 2023.
“Overall, a small decline is expected in the Agricultural Sector in 2023,” said the review, which explained that the decision was based on the limited data received from the Central Statistical Office (CSO) and estimates by the Ministry of Finance.
The review said that an estimated decline of 5.5% is expected for nutmeg production, 3.5% for cocoa and 10% for the Marketing and National Importing Board (MNIB) Purchases of Other Crops.
“Given that the MNIB is undergoing restructuring, MNIB purchases is likely to be an inaccurate proxy for production of “Other Crops” for the rest of 2023,” said the report, which explained that data remains a challenge for the agriculture sector, and as such, estimates are used where data gaps exist.
The report, also presented to Members of the Upper House of Parliament, said that the CSO aims to gather data from Supermarkets and Hotels to compensate for the reduced availability of data from the MNIB.
Someone has a private agenda to try to skew and manipulate Grenadian agriculture. WHY is this business of cleaning up the MNIB taking YEARS!
STOP being negative about Agriculture all the time. Deal with praedial larceny and move to composting and less imported fertilizers that poison the water and ocean.
Where is the support for secure water supply for the locals and farmers??? Enough of these water cuts fir ordinary persons while you would NEVER DARE cut water for a week to hotels.
Get some PROPER medical care that can actually diagnose and CORRECTLY treat persons. Too many dying when they go to hospital.
I thought agriculture was the top priority lol ! They don’t know how to govern, very sad !
The top priorities were Agriculture and Health.
Sadly, it’s the undertakers benefiting from the cultivation deficiencies, and our communities are dangerously divided for what?
This trends, will definitely lead to farmers neglecting their lands, and the young people enthusiasm will deteriorate rapidly.
Therefore, we need to stop outside influences as possible, and aggressively encourage our people to plant.
Why? Are we just supposed to accept this without any explanation of why this is forecast