 The tour of the various departments began at the National Agricultural Diagnostic Facility in Union, which houses several agricultural departments, including the Plant Research and Development Division, the Agricultural Engineering Services Division, Veterinary and Livestock Services Division, and the Metrology Unit of the St. Lucia Bureau of Standards. The department heads provided an overview of all ongoing initiatives, as well as concerns in their divisions. Honourable Alfred Prosper indicated that while he leads the ministry in a new path, he intends to work closely with the experts within his ministry to strengthen St Lucia's agriculture sector. I want to make or see the military culture as this new ministry moving forward to secure food, nutrition, security, and to encourage our stakeholders to come back into the industry if they are left, and to make those who are currently in the industry to be happy, to be comfortable, to benefit from the incentives that they need, to be able to access the markets that they need, and to reduce that level of frustration that is existing among our farmers and other key stakeholders in the agricultural sector. The tour continued with a visit to the Propagation Station in Union, where the Honourable Minister engaged the staff of Tissue Culture, the Propagation Station, and the Sufrabath Station in discourse on the future of their department. Those persons, I must say, are making an invaluable contribution to the ministry, and I know they will continue to do that. Our farmers depend heavily on propagated plants for establishing their crop plantations and other tree crops that they do plant on their holings for economic activity and for other benefits, nutrition, whatever, and these people are contributing immensely to the development of the country and the sector in terms of that. I must say the challenges were many, but I think they can be addressed in the short to medium term, but I really, really believe that we need to give more attention to their needs and ensure that they can produce a lot more for the ministry. Minister Alfred Prosper, while acknowledging all that has been accomplished thus far, reiterated his commitment to improving and adding value to St Lucia's agriculture sector. The minister's tour will continue Thursday with side visits of various agriculture facilities in regions one and two. From the communications unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, I am Anisia Antoine reporting.