(Trinidad Express) In an effort to decrease the price of animal feed locally, Food Production Minister Devant Maharaj is planning to plant 1,000 acres of corn.
Maharaj said he will soon be taking a note to Cabinet for approval of funds for the project and 700 acres of land in different parts of the country had already been identified.
He made the disclosure yesterday after opening the Seafood Industry Development Co Ltd’s Fish Processing Establishment in Claxton Bay.
In July, international reports stated that global grain prices had soared to record highs, compounded by a severe drought in America’s mid-west, where corn and soybean crops are grown.
President of the Supermarkets’ Association Vernon Persad recently described the increasing food prices as “worrying, scary and kind of crazy” and advised consumers to stop spending money on items that are not needed because food prices will be increasing drastically.
Maharaj said the planting of the corn locally will be a “buffer for our livestock feed security” and “a national security in terms of stabilising food prices”.
“The Ministry is trying to get 1,000 acres that fall under the Ministry’s control in various estates and I will be going to the Cabinet through the budget to have corn and other feed stock to act as a buffer for any convulsions on the international market. It would not be a continuous 1,000-acre block…Trinidad is probably too small for that investment.”
He said apart from negative changes in food inflation that will occur because of the high prices, “the societal impact will be well beyond any dollar value we could put on it right now”.
Maharaj said he could not say how much it was going to cost taxpayers for the project but, by using lands already allocated to the Ministry, it will save time and money.
“It is just a matter of getting the necessary funding for feed, plants, additional labour cost and some additional machinery so the cost would be much less if we were going in new areas. It would save us time and money.”
Maharaj said he will be working with Minister of National Security Jack Warner to “ensure that farmers’ hard work is not stolen from them” and a Ranger Squad launch is expected to be held on Monday in Carlsen Field.
Maharaj said at yesterday’s function that fish, once properly preserved, has “export potential”.
“Methods of fish handling and processing are generally inadequate and result in major fish losses. The handling and processing techniques need to be improved. This will improve the quality of cured products, increasing availability and nutritional values of the fish to consumers and profitability for the producers,” he said.
“For the cured fish industry to experience growth and gain better access to lucrative markets, there is a need for an organised and structured cured fish industry with a reliable information network. The industry needs to abolish the individual operational strategy.”
And Maharaj said four major items from Trinidad and Tobago were going to be marketed internationally and locally-honey, scorpion peppers, cocoa and Buffalypso.
