Manning: 'We are now preparing the ground for a level of food production never before seen in this country'.

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

Prime Minister Patrick Manning says a new initiative between his administration and an international agency will take agriculture here to 'unprecedente heights'.

He told a national food consultation that a collaborative effort between the National Agribusiness Development Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations would result in the creation of 17 mega farms to ensure there was food for all in the country.

"We are now preparing the ground for a level of food production never before seen in this country," Manning said.

He said the emphasis at these mega farms would be on the cultivation of organic food crops in an effort to combat diseases such as cancer and hypertension, which had been linked to the excessive use of chemicals in crop production.

The Prime Minister said he also saw a relationship with Caribbean Community partners in developing a successful combative plan for mass increased food production.

"For example, the Trinidad and Tobago/Guyana partnership will see to the cultivation of 120,000 acres of land in Guyana," he said, adding that the Guyanese government would supply the land and the Trinidad and Tobago government would provide some initial funding.

He said other partnerships would also enable the expansion of the sea bridge to include Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Lucia.

But the Prime Minister's announcement of the mega farms came under heavy criticism from Congress of the People (COP) deputy political leader, Wendy Lee Yuen, who said this move did not make sense when local farmers were suffering and needed help.

Lee Yuen, an agriculturist, said Manning's administration made a bad decision to close down Caroni (1975) Ltd. and before the government even settled the issue of land and agriculture with respect to over 7,000 former Caroni farmers, it was 'jumping to agriculture on a mega scale'.

She said more than 19,000 small farmers in the country need government assistance.

"There is lack of planning, this is just an election gimmick, this is not Vision 2020, this is a nightmare," Lee Yuen stated.

Taken from the Financial Gleaner, Friday August 17, 2007.