Flooding, Giant African Snails, land tenure, and the high cost of agricultural chemicals were just a few of the problems relayed to Minister of Agriculture, Ravi Ratiram, when he met with farmers in East Trinidad on Wednesday.
Minister Ratiram said farmers across the country are facing similar challenges, but one of the major issues is flooding, which the government is addressing.
“We would have embarked upon a comprehensive drainage plan where the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Minister Jearlean John, pilots and leads this initiative because Ministry of Works is responsible for the major and the main watercourses, and then supported by the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government.”
Minister Ratiram noted that after the floodwaters recede, Giant African Snails are prevalent in the agricultural fields.
Member of Parliament for Cumuto/Manzanilla, Shivanna Sam, accompanied the Minister through her constituency.
She stated: “We understand that you, the farmers, have been facing both longstanding and emerging challenges and we actually just came from a site visit in the Plum Mitan area region where those farmers there would have highlighted their challenges to the Minister. And we know issues like flooding, climate resilience, the rising cost of inputs, poor access roads, these are the kinds of concerns that we have here in this constituency.”
The Agriculture Minister said many farmers are unable to secure the support the Ministry of Agriculture provides because of their land problems.
“Several of our farmers have not been able to get their land lease renewed, and because of the failure of having that land tenure, that land security, they cannot have proper registration status, and because of that now, they cannot get the support from the Ministry with respect to flood compensation, with respect to incentives to get back on their feet.”
The Minister also promised that the government will push for former Caroni workers to receive their long-awaited residential plots.