(Trinidad Guardian) Empowering citizens and lowering the country’s food import bill are behind “Agriculture Now”, the Ministry of Food Production, Land and Marine Affairs’ latest farming initiative.
The project is being done in collaboration with the Unemployment Relief Programme (URP).
“We are giving participants a life skill to improve themselves … and the food security of Trinidad and Tobago. If individuals are empowered, it will only be to the benefit of the nation. This will be a continuous project, taking away dependence on the State,” Food Production Minister Vasant Bharath said during the official launch of the project at the La Pastora Plant Propagation Station in Santa Cruz on Monday.
Two hundred and fifty-six participants will be involved in this first stage with 32 men and women on eight different government farms across the country. They will be paid the standard URP stipend of TT$69 a day during the three-month training period, and then guaranteed TT$150 a day when they complete training and are placed either on private farms or other government agricultural projects.
“So far we already have pineapple, cocoa and citrus farmers from around the country expressing interest in hiring the participants,” Bharath said, adding that this project would address a fundamental complaint by farmers of not being able to find skilled farm workers.
