Gov’t Moves To Cut $250 Million Corn Import Bill
Over $250 million is spent every year to import corn into Trinidad and Tobago, with most of it used as feedstock for the local poultry industry.
This, according to Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Ravi Ratiram, who said his Ministry is preparing to begin a two-week pilot programme in the Caroni area to cultivate corn locally and cut that foreign-exchange demand.
Noting that imported maize remains one of the single largest drains on the country’s foreign exchange, fuelled by the needs of the poultry sector, he said the Ministry is taking steps to shift corn production back home, beginning with a short-term pilot project.
« We are looking at replacing our import with local cultivation so that we can, we can keep our foreign exchange, than have to spend it when we can grow the corn right here. So I’m happy to say that within this two-week period, we will be doing a pilot project and that will be done in the Caroni area there, where we will be cultivating an acreage of corn for the poultry industry. It’s separate from the sweet corn, it’s the hard corn that they actually use to feed the chicken. »
The Minister said the initiative is expected to help stabilise poultry prices and support farmers by reducing dependence on imported feed.
He adds that once the pilot is successful, the programme will expand nationwide, and include guaranteed markets so farmers could know their returns, even before planting.
« Once this pilot project is successful, it is something that we’re going to be rolling out across the country and it is something that will involve, again, some contract farming where you will know up front in terms of your production, your production levels, what price you’re going to be getting for your production of corn. »
Meanwhile, Member of Parliament for La Horquetta/Talparo, Phillip Watts, said discussions are underway to identify vacant lands across the constituency that can be made available for agricultural use, further supporting the Ministry’s efforts to expand local production.
« So we are having discussions here with Land and Legal Affairs, as to some of the lands, the vacant lands that some of the farmers are speaking about in the constituency. So what I’m asking them to do here now is, I will work with the farmers in the constituency, see if we can identify at least 100, 150 acres of land, and I would want to get the commitment from Land and Legal Affairs that they would make these lands available within the next year for our farmers. »
