 All those who are watching us here in St. Lucia, those on YouTube, I'd like to give you a video welcome. As usual, I have set before previously on two of my programs this year is agriculture year for programs. I know my minister, the honorable Alfred Prosper is smiling from ear to ear because a lot is happening and a lot will be happening. So far the farmers have received a lot of support. They began with fertilizers which they have received over the past month. We also have the fishers who are getting support and crop farmers will continue to get support. You have heard what is in stock for them and today this program is specifically for the livestock farmers. So please view the program less of farmers. A lot is in stock for you. There is a program called the Ubeck program unleashing the blue economy of the Caribbean and there's a sub-program where we are looking at the emergency plan, looking at support in response to our food insecurity here. With me today is Mr. Dean Alfred, who is our livestock technical officer in the Department of Agriculture and of course welcome to the program Mr. Averill. Thank you very much sir. Good morning. Is it Averill or Averill? Averill. Chiefs tell us about the Ubeck project. Give us an overview of this project. Alright so the Ubeck project is a World Bank funded project. Saint Lucia is one of the participant countries like you said unleashing the blue economy of the Caribbean. What is very interesting about this project though recognizing the integrated linkages that exist because everybody knows blue economy talks about fisheries and the sea and the maritime space. So then people might be thinking okay what does agriculture and livestock have to do with the blue economy but in essence if we look at anything that has to be done sustainably from an environmental standpoint agriculture is connected to the marine space values of water and what we do with our waterways and the same thing with our livestock as well. Livestock has impact on the environment and in so doing can also affect the marine space and it also has a solid waste management component as well. So again realistically speaking if we have to pay attention to any one of those when you call them sub-sectors it is very useful and very good that we are taking an integrated approach looking at all of the sectors in unison because they all affect one another. So let's zero in on livestock. Where does that program assist the livestock sector? All right so again it is very very very refreshing that at this stage the livestock sector is getting some attention because livestock is often looked at as the outside child of the agricultural ministry like it or not. Yeah so it is very very very good that livestock is getting some much needed attention and some much needed support and under the contingency emergency response component of the project looking at you know recovering from some of the impacts of even covid right on the livestock sector. I mean you could just imagine we had a situation in Senucia where farmers were unable to want in to their animals because of lockdown. You could imagine that right now this is an animal this is a living being and you imagine these that you can't go and see about them and these that so of course that would have significant impacts on production. So just that recovery alone that is something that is very very very important for livestock as well. The other thing that we need to pay attention to from a food security standpoint. Senucia I would consider to be a meat eating country all right. There's very little food that we consume especially our lunch that we don't consume some form of animal protein. Also when we talk about our food import bill oftentimes we don't disaggregate it and break it down to look at livestock in terms of animal protein components because whereas you have high value commodities or high volume commodities like flour, rice and sugar but when you look at the value of animal products it's quite significant. Yeah so again if we're talking food security food import bill and all of these things livestock has to be part of that conversation. All right so again taking a final final look at livestock production. The project focus is on five areas livestock nutrition improving on the forage feeding aspects of our especially our ruminants all right. How do we improve on that because there's a lot that we can do. Animal breeding you always say anytime you talk to farmers they always talk about better breeds. Improved breeds I want bigger breeds I want this that that so there is a component in breeding and genetics that we're looking to import. Some renewed bloodlines for about four species cattle sheep goats and pigs right that we look to integrate into the breeding program that the ministry has going on to see how we can bring about some upgrades within the sector. There is a water component now again paying attention to livestock just like you would crops. We talk about water conservation and irrigation and all of that the same thing applies to animal production. Water is a key component so there is a water conservation and storage component that talks about and you will see the launch of that tomorrow with the water tank distribution to approximately 500 livestock farmers that is supposed to start tomorrow. So I think in region eight so you will see now some efforts being made towards that water security program for livestock. Then you also talk about on the aspect of training there's always a need for training. So there's a significant training component that talks about animal husbandry more breeding again water component how significant that is and other husbandry practices that can help us improve on what it is that we're doing. And lastly but most importantly the health and disease management of livestock there is that component as well. And that speaks to again diagnostic services that we're able to provide at the level of the ministry and of course all of the support that our animal health technicians and our vets provide in terms of keeping our animals healthy again because we expect to eat them. So keeping our animals healthy, keeping our hoods healthy that sort of thing so that is another component as well. Okay so is there a number of farmers that you're targeted or are you all working specifically with the and for example the livestock division officers to guide that process? Right so definitely it's a sort of hand in hand sort of thing so the project on its own can't do everything. So we are working very closely with the veterinarian livestock division of the ministry and that sees us working region by region and targeting not just the 500 farmers that have been identified so far for water tank distribution that's just one component. But when you talk about now the breeding and genetics component that will touch farmers across the length and breadth of St Lucia. When we talk again of how we go about improving on nutritional aspects okay because one of the things that we need to pay attention to is breeding and genetics on its own we can get the best genetics but if these animals are managed properly if they are grown properly they will never perform the way that they're supposed to. So we have to pay critical attention to our nutrition components, water and overall management of these animals. So you will see over the next few months that scope being broadened to touch as many livestock farmers as possible when it comes to all of those aspects that I mentioned and in particular the training again. We always have to have that ongoing exchange of information and stuff like that. The other day I looked at some figures and looking at like weaning of piglets the weights that we're weaning at when we market pigs the weight that we're marketing at the time taken to market these animals and we definitely have a lot of work to do especially when it comes to improving on the efficiency of those processes. So there's there's a lot of work to do. The project can do everything but we're definitely going to push a lot in the next in the next six months. Of course in the breeding component I'm sure you're looking at artificial insemination AI you're all hoping to bring in cement from overseas okay and but years ago the AI I knew was only for cattle but now I think you're doing it for pigs you're doing it for sheep and goats So there is a component to construct an AI lab at the newly constructed station in livestock station and what we're trying to do now is a lot of the systems and processes that were lost when Bosch was closed down Bosch wasn't just a physical location right there were a lot of processes there were a lot of systems in place records and a lot of that so we lost a lot of a lot of stuff. As you've seen it touches me because boy as a soft spot for me trust me it continues. So now there's a lot of rebuilding to do and reinstating some of those systems so we're actually now on every Friday we're linking up with the officers down at the station helping to put back some of those systems the record keeping systems your animal management systems and then that now we'll see us feeding into the whole breeding program the information that is needed for selection to be able to guide semen collection we're hoping to be able to achieve semen collection for three or four species the cattle the pigs the sheep and goat all right trying to see again we also need to start to generate our own supplies because just like you say we have traditionally we have imported semen imported imported imported imported but I know of local instances where we have animals that are performing well under our conditions these animals should also be part of that breeding program okay so definitely the collection storage of semen that is something that we're going to localize in addition to that build on to the existing artificial insemination program to cross modern just cattle so pigs will be included sheep and goats will be included so that way we can broaden the horizon and the scope for our AI program so the lab will be constructed under that program yes great okay most importantly too I think everything is important you know but added to this the the AI and the breeding system that you all have in place the nutrition part of it is crucial in terms of field because over the years we have had a problem for proper feed feeding systems inside moving forward what is the project doing to ensure that availability of proper feed and also the the ratio is available right so like we were talking about earlier the performance of any any group of genetics is highly hinged on how well we feed them definitely and under the program we're looking at now fine-tuning our forage production aspect because forage production is one of the ways that we can significantly impact the cost of producing our animals all right now another general concept not everything that's green is good quality grass all right if you want to call it that exactly right and even in conversation so far in talking about okay how do we produce good quality forage all right I mentioned into the fact that okay we need to start looking at a fertilizer program for our forder banks and so on and you see some people raising their eyebrows like yes forage is a crop and it has to be treated and managed as such all right so irrigation the same that you would apply to other crops irrigation fertilizer regimes manure and all of these things these go into good forage production programs definitely so there's a paddock that we're working on now at volet that will be used as a demonstration type paddock we want to also highlight the fact that we have a number of plant species that can be used to feed animals that we take for granted all right you have things like the lucina I think we call it wild tambrin whatever you have gloricida right you have a thing called trichotera you have some wild sunflowers you have a long number of species all right or plants that can significantly contribute to feeding animals and feeding livestock that we just not really paying much attention to so that program will look to highlight some of those mass produce them one of the models that I want to see us input bring back here is the sugarcane model for feeding livestock right sugarcane is a very good energy source you understand so there are things that we can do that can help to impact our production systems from a nutrition standpoint help to add a lot of feed ingredients that have good quality protein energy you name it right and help now our producers to understand how do we integrate all of these into properly formulated diets good rations such that we can see the performance that we're looking for in the animals because I think over the years Bossejo had a started a program the lucina and also the king okay so it's a question of continuation to ensure we have good feed because I don't know what exists now we have a feed mill in St. Lucia all right the producers feed I don't know whether they are producing a broad spectrum of feed for ranging from the animals that we're talking about the livestock whether we're aware of that but we will speak about that after our break you're watching agriculture on the move stay tuned don't go away the ministry of agriculture fisheries food security and rural development continues placing heavy emphasis on the concept of food security it's our prosperity our future livestock production is a support program offered by the ministry it guarantees 28.65% and 40% market share for poultry and swine production respectively there is ongoing disease surveillance and treatment improved bloodline support the bar tree support training and technical support you can learn more on livestock production contact the chief veterinary officer at 468 5620 for further information welcome back to the program agriculture on the move of course with me mr. Denevril who is the livestock technical officer attached to the ubeck and the soak program which is the livestock section of the whole program as it relates to assisting farmers here in St. Lucia we spoke about the before the break the feeding program what is inexistent now and do you believe we will be able to reach our target as far as the proper feeding is concerned for animals in the next say five six months all right so there we have a lot of work to do I know just putting that out there I know now currently I mean we do have some but I would consider to be reasonable supplies of commercially available feed all right now the the whole concept is when we try to look at alternative feeds and alternative feed ingredients especially those that we can produce it's not a situation where we're saying okay replace the commercial concentrate feeds that we get from our various suppliers that's that's not the argument the argument is that these feeds are supplements and they have to be treated as such what we have fallen into we have fallen into the the convention of feeding these things alone especially when it comes our herbivores our cattle sheep goats rabbits they cannot survive well on these feeds alone okay so one of the things that we have to look to do is like we were saying before build comprehensive rations that are made up of multiple ingredients we have some byproducts that come out of various agro processes that can also go into feed we have a lot of fish waste we used to do it before we stop I don't know why but all of these can contribute significantly to raising the bar when it comes to the standard of nutrition that we provide for our animals so hopefully within the next few months we can build on the forage producing component all right um we're trying also to see if we can put in um some measure of forage and for the conservation now the dry season if you look outside our pastures are down to everywhere look like a brown field in fact as you mentioned that I remember a guy was smart a farmer was smart to induce his his um cattle to to eat the dry grass they gave them green goggles green sunglasses you know and and and these are some of the things that we really have to start paying attention to so in the rainy season one of the concepts that I always use with with with any system in the rainy season when we have excess growth in the stock of that we store it you know and we store that for times like now we have feed in reserve whether it be in the form of hay whether it be the form of silage whatever the case may be but we have some conserved conserved material so hopefully we can make some significant strides when it comes to that producing forage properly managing it properly harvesting conserving some and that should see a significantly augment at least in the short term the availability of feed resources okay okay right so hopefully we can get that done the dressing up percentage now as it exists looking at our feed to what is required where with that so again work to do yeah to do so overall dressing percentages will not really change for the species but what we can look at is the efficiency in terms of how fast we can produce animals okay all right so we look at things like growth rates and so on okay I know it is possible and you say to some people and they'll watch you that I open big so it is possible for us to produce animals in about a year time cattle that is weighing a thousand pounds 1200 pounds live weight off of grass alone it is possible okay all right it is also possible from a reproductive standpoint for us to get one calf every year from a cow all right I know personal instances where we can cut it down to all 11 months okay right now these things are all possible in theory but if we if we don't take stock of what it is that we're doing now and look at it and say okay it taking us three years to produce an animal at 1500 pounds it shouldn't take so long right same thing with our pigs we are feeding pigs past six several months eight months that's too long because that time between five months and and the eight months we're wasting feed you understand the amount of feed they actually convert in a lot of it is going right back out you know and then now you talk about the environmentalist will tell you your animals polluting the environment you understand so all of these little things you know there are a lot of tweaks that can be made in the system so we have yeah where are the farmers going to benefit now as we speak what what are they getting from the project now good so in terms of emergency response like I said the farmers will get some some support with regards to their water conservation and that will spread across multiple species cattle sheep and goat rabbit farmers are included in their poultry farmers are included in there and even persons agro processors within the livestock sector will also benefit from from that water conservation exercise okay when it comes on to the breeding and genetics we do intend in the very short term to make some of the animals available to potential farmers farmers that do have the capacity to introduce the blood lines onto their holdings the AI will be a little bit further off but that will also come in probably after the after the six months map but again that should help to boost our stimulate increases and improvements in production that you see on the ground the interaction and engagement with livestock farmers I don't know how much of that has been done in recent times but that again is another immediate action because we need to really get a sense of what farmers are doing why are they doing what it is that they're not doing exactly and what are some of the challenges and one of the things that preventing them from actually adopting better practices you know so that again is something that can come forth almost immediately and then ultimately what we really want to try to get to do is to understand the scope of production like like where are we you know we like we eat our pork we enjoy it but where are we in terms of the numbers in terms of how much we are producing you know we know we're self-sufficient in exacting yeah right but what about the other the classes you know we still have to import those right so we need to really take us talk run a benchmark and know where we're starting now so that we can know okay yes after the implementation of this phase of the project we were able to move the mark by X amount you know very important because we need to know where we are now with our importation okay we need to lower our food import bill okay so we need to know what is in existence now and by what percentage what time we need to bring it up all right and reduce our hour so i mean is that pattern person over the mandate of the project well the project monitoring and evaluation component does speak to that right especially when you talk about an emergency response plan correct yes because that emergency response plan what you're measuring that against is you know you suffered losses you know you would have suffered some sort of damage and so on so the recovery has to be production parameter base base that's the only way we know if we go in somewhere right so the the monitoring and evaluation component of the project definitely will take into account some of those parameters and you know in talking to the officers now you know they're saying that yeah you know some people are struggling to produce animals in the given amount of time given time frame our broiler chickens taking six weeks seven weeks sometimes a little more you know stuff like that so we can actually pay attention to the systems on the ground what is happening where we are actually able to achieve better efficiency i didn't i i'm not sure if i heard i didn't have poultry's involved in that in that no not immediately no not immediately no but since we talk in livestock sector exactly because i heard you mentioned the tanks water tanks right they are going to all those farmers going to be involved in that too yes some of the broiler farmers will get support with the water tank as far as training and capacity building um what's in there for the farmers right so we're going to focus more on the pig farmers the sheep and goat we'll call them the ruminants sheep goat and cattle and what we're going to try to do is get the nutrition program get it out there all right start to promote a lot of the more sustainable practices when it comes to feeding animals so that will take into account the training also with the importation of what we call improved bloodlines there are certain critical components like we were saying earlier that have to be put in place so just by getting improved genetics doesn't automatically mean that we're going to see an improvement in production right so there definitely must be those support systems right looking at your nutrition looking at your animal comfort situation right animals that are not properly housed not properly managed not properly fed you know we still have a mentality of people walking around kicking animals and then you wonder why they can't get pregnant why they can't deliver the little sizes that they supposed to you know all of these things so it is a comprehensive package that's supposed to come into this animal husbandry business and then we can see okay yes how we can move our our sector holistically is there support for pen rehabilitation or pen build new ben building not at this time but again it's something that in the training it will come out so where there are especially from a disastrous management standpoint and climate change and all of that there are definitely you know training points that can touch on housing right development of better housing installation of housing a simple critical component now we're building structures to house animals these structures must be fitted with rainwater harvest insistence you know there's no way that you have a piece of roof and you don't have a drum to collect some water like and these these are some of the things that should be part of our policy you know in in in moving forward you know so you want to produce livestock you want to produce ruminant animals or herbivores you must have it could be a hundred square foot it doesn't really matter but must have for the bank you know again these are things these are policy positions that we can take and drive them and continue to educate teach and promote these practices so that you can see improvements in production a limited time you have available for that project okay it's ending in october right supposed to vote okay what are you telling the farmers now moving forward with speed and haste okay so definitely in terms of participation we definitely would like to not everybody will be an immediate beneficiary and that's and that's and that's something that we just have to live with all right not everybody's going to benefit from everything but again it is important that the farmers remain engaged with your miniature agriculture officers with your extension officers and so on so that we know what it is going on we know what you're doing so yes this project would have come may come and go but what if there's another opportunity that comes right afterwards we have already been working together all right so what we really want to encourage is that level of participation all right yes you may not necessarily be an immediate beneficiary but your participation is important we need to know what you what what you're struggling with what are you doing what are your production levels like we need to know so that way now we can craft and design more programs that can further support the sector do you believe that we are well on our way to achieve the that project goal within the time frame where are we now are we slow are we ahead we're picking up speed right um it would have been nice if we could have been well on our way or we could have taken off probably a few months ago however um i think that this is just the nature of our bureaucratic process and all of these things because we have to work within that framework but what i can assure our producers is that every effort is being made to ensure that we gain maximum benefit under this component of the project any final words from you sir final words boy i'm really excited about the implementation um especially for the livestock sector um i know it is much needed and definitely we're looking to see you know some significant improvements in what it is that we're doing on the livestock side of things great great nint thank you for being here my pleasure i'm happy that project is available and the farmers are going to get benefited in that regard um also moving into the wallet um livestock station that ties in nicely and i'm thinking um they can go there when they need to get stock they can get stock available to them at the right time thank you again for being a life to success thank you you've been watching agriculture in the move we want to thank you for viewing the program livestock farmers please speak to your extension officer to get some more information because we need to move that project we need to bring down our or lowering our food import bill so the audience are new let's do it together agriculture is our business eat fresh say no just best i'm philip sydney saying goodbye thank you sir