GRANT

President of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), Senator Norman Grant, is proposing that a ban be placed on the importation of chicken into CARICOM to foster local and regional advancement.

The JAS president, who is also the chairman of the Caribbean Farmers' Association Network, said the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) was an excellent opportunity for farmers within the region to increase their earnings, especially in the poultry industry where annual regional production is peaking at 205 metric tonnes of broiler meat and 45 million dozen eggs.

"By our scale of production we should be saying to CARICOM as a region, let us take the position to bar all kinds of poultry meat in the region on the condition that we produce all that is required," he told patrons attending the Barbados agricultural show, Agrofest, on the weekend.

According to Senator Grant, who was the guest speaker at the function, "there is money to be made and we must support this industry in the spirit of regional integration."

Not unusual

He stressed that the recommendation was not anti international trade, but was for local and regional advancement. He argued that developed countries did it at some stagein their development and would not be unusual for CARICOM to do the same.

In the meantime, Senator Grant is urging farmers and stakeholders in the region's agricultural sector to make better use of technology such as greenhouse, hydroponics and wind tunnel in order to improve production and increase yields. "Technology makes agriculture sexy and attractive and it must be used to attract more youths to the sector," he said.