On Tuesday, fourteen Tobago farmers received letters of intent after being selected to be a part of the Tobago House of Assembly’s Mega Farming Development Programme.
The distribution took place during the unveiling of the proposed site for the Friendship Agro-Park, to be established under the THA Division of Food Security’s Mega-Farming Development Programme.
Chair of the Mega-Farming Programme Committee, James Trotman, noted the project is founded on the Chief Secretary’s vision to establish two mega farms in Tobago.
“The park will serve as a model development, providing farmers with access to essential infrastructure, which includes forty-eight shade houses, each measuring 30 feet by 100 feet, equaling to three thousand square feet of growing space per unit. Further, each structure will be seventeen feet in height, giving an overall fifty-one thousand cubic feet of space. It is significant because we will also engage in vertical farming, which significantly increases our productive capacity.”
Administrator Julien Skeete said that with this initiative, farmers will no longer be operating in isolation.
“These letters of intent signal that progress is being made. They reflect our commitment to providing access to space, infrastructure and systems that are deliberately designed with the needs of all in mind. The Friendship Agro-Park is intended to address some of the longstanding barriers faced by farmers, whether limited access to land, inconsistent growing conditions, or the absence of shared infrastructure.”
Secretary of Food Security Nathisha Charles-Pantin’s speech was one of gratitude. She explained that several technocrats played key roles to get the project off the ground. Mrs. Pantin noted the initiative is also aimed at improving the efficiency of the island’s farmers.
“If you have a mega-farming project, we have to move away from looking at agriculture as a backyard enterprise and considering all the factors involved in actually becoming a commercial farmer, and that is why we have TADCO, we had different entities, TAGS, and all the other companies involved to train all the persons towards becoming efficient and sustainable in agriculture.”
Secretary Pantin stressed the THA has been executing projects to revive agriculture in Tobago, as she also spoke about the Division’s recently established Community Care Programme, which has been serving over 300 persons with fresh produce from local farmers.