 Hello everyone and welcome to the program, Agriculture on the Move. I am Philip Sidney, your host. With me today is no stranger to the studio is Honorable Alfred Prospe, who has responsibility for agriculture, fisheries, food security and rural development. Welcome to the program, sir. Thank you very much and it's a great, great pleasure for me to be here. It's always a pleasure to have you. First of all, I know this is a burning issue for you. It's on the front burner and I know you want to see something happen to the sector which is the banana industry. I'm also aware that we have not shipped any bananas to the UK. You also got a banana task force organized to look into the operations of the NFTU and to look at some success because we need to get the quality aspect in order and also your production, the consistency in production in order. Where we are today? The banana industry, I must say, is very, very, very important. Not only as a country was dependent on it and it has really contributed to the economic development of the country, but it's about the farmers and the farmers who have been in this industry for maybe over 70 years. And this industry, we know it has had its own challenges. Oh yes. We have had hurricanes on a regular basis and in most cases, the banana industry has been directly affected. But one of the good things about it is that it has always come back after hurricane, which is something that we are just experiencing because we know what happened to the banana industry last year during Hurricane Elsa. But the collapse of the industry really started in 2019 when Winfresh, the main marketing entity for our bananas, collapsed in 2019. And remember, I want to make the point that it was before our government came in, 2019. And since then, the banana industry has had its fair share of challenges. You know, the NFT took on the responsibility after the collapse of Winfresh and we have found ourselves in a situation now where the UK market, although it is available, but there is a slim chance of us maintaining this market. And you'll recall I went to the UK to get an understanding as to what the industry was going through. And as I mentioned after my visit to the UK, it was really about quality and consistency in production. Now that has been a major problem for our farmers because we know export of our bananas to the UK is it would usually take two weeks to three weeks, but it has to go through the process of the ripening facility, which is another three or four days. But when that happened and your bananas get to there without before it gets to the ripening facility, there's a problem. And that is what that major challenge is. We are working with the farmers in terms of making sure that we are putting things in place to ensure that they get ready for export of our bananas. Because we have two thousand, two thousand to three hundred, three thousand boxes of bananas that we are exporting to Primo on a weekly basis. Fives as I indicated have not really engaged us unless we put and present to them our action planning strategy, which we are working on through the banana task force. But we see opportunities for the regional market. That's very important because right now I think while you're waiting for the export to the UK, the regional market seems to be very active. Very, very active. So I know you had a trip to Antigua and of course we saw the many photos. So tell us about that trip to Antigua. Yeah, that trip to Antigua was basically to really engage a new buyer of our bananas. He actually purchased 450 boxes of bananas that is during that time. So I really thought it was a very good opportunity for me to engage and to say thank you and to have a discussion as to possibilities of increasing exports of our bananas to Antigua. We also engage another buyer who has been purchasing two containers of bananas. I think it's between about two thousand boxes and what we will say to her is can we use Antigua as a hub that would cause us to increase our production, our export of bananas to Antigua. But that hub now would allow countries like St. Kitts, St. Thomas, St. Martin to really benefit from that hub in terms of moving it from that point to the other countries. We are also looking at areas like Trinidad and just last week another thousand boxes left St. Bush for Trinidad. In the coming weeks I am hoping to be in Trinidad to also engage this buyer to see how we can help increase our exports. While that is important and we are making some good progress in terms of the regional market, we still have to prepare ourselves, get ready for us to continue to take advantage of the UK market because it is important for us. This market has been there for many years and the good thing about the banana industry is that farmers are able to make money every week. As again a normal employer that would have two weeks to make money, it allows the farmer to make money from bananas every week because he sells every week and he can make money from that. So that is very important in terms of impacting the farmers livelihoods and the whole rural areas as a whole because the rural communities are those communities that have a direct benefit from the industry. So it is very important that we continue that work and we are hoping that in the coming weeks we will continue our engagement with the other countries in the region to see how we can increase our exports of our bananas to England. Just imagine if we can get between 10,000 to 12,000 boxes of bananas in the region every week, that is going to make a big impact in terms of penetrating the original market and reducing all the implications and realities that we have been facing with the UK market. Now I am hearing that the boat takes close to 21 days between St Lucia and the UK in addition to four days, five days for the banana to go through the ripening facility. So if we can really, really continue to focus on the regional market which I can tell we are doing very well so far, I believe there is a future for bananas in St Lucia. Quality is very, very important and I don't think we are looking at quality just for the UK market. Quality should be across the border. I am hoping that that is a message that is sent to the farmers. Quality is quality and it should not be substandard to the regional and even local. And this is what we have to do is produce a quality banana that can go both to the region and the UK. It makes no sense for us to be saying that the region deserves a lesser quality fruit as compared with the UK. We have to produce a standard quality fruit. If it goes to Trinidad, Barbados, Antigua, the UK, it is one standard. Correct. We must never forget our bananas are well known for the taste. Our bananas taste a lot better than a lot of the bananas from the other countries. We need to never forget that but at the end of the day I am urging our farmers of the quality requirements it should be at one standard and don't think that because your fruits are being exported to the region that it should be of a certain quality and another quality for the UK. Let's produce one quality fruit that would be making Saint Lucia, put Saint Lucia in a particular bracket I want to say in terms of banana exports. Definitely. You know there is a market, I know there is a market locally but after El Serialise the name Green Gold became Green Gold because it was scarce and people were asking what is going on. So there is a market locally and also I want to emphasise the point, I don't know whether you want to challenge that. We need in the school feeding programme we need to get the children to eat a banana a day. You know how much money that will be there for the farmers in the pocket. This is we need to look at our local market. Very good point and this is why aside looking at the regional market, looking at the UK market we must take responsibility ourselves as the local people to consume more of our bananas. And this school feeding programme as you mentioned is a wonderful opportunity for us to encourage our children to eat a banana a day and aside the children we can do the same for the prisons, the hospitals, you know and really increase consumption, local consumption of our bananas. There is a ripening facility as we speak at Lakai and it has been there for many years and I have always been in discussing with the national factory organisation that they should get this ripening facility operational and make available to local, to St Lucian's more of our bananas and so we can create our own market locally because we are producing it and we have a responsibility to consume it. And so this is something that we think is very, very important. The whole school feeding programme, targeting the prisons, targeting the hospitals and other public facilities, you know and really increase use and consumption of our bananas. Where is your ministry as far as assistance to the farmers are concerned? I know the BPIP has come to a close and the BPIP was responsible for agronomic practices, increasing production, control of diseases. Where are we today? Well the Banana Productivity Improvement Project, what do you call the BPIP or BPIP? BPIP. It was really a five-year project funded by the Taiwanese government. Now this project, the fifth year, it came to an end on the 45th of March, which is just a few days ago. But as you mentioned, that project was responsible for soil health and the black sticker talk and a number of areas that are critical for the industry. But recognising the detrimental effect that the black sticker talk can have on that industry, we as a ministry has decided to set up a small unit which would comprise six or seven percent to continue working extremely hard in terms of controlling the black sticker talk problem. Because if we are now saying let's improve, make quality the key thing now for the export of our bananas, we cannot leave black sticker talk out of control. So we must ensure that we continue this. And under in this new budget year, an amount of $950,000 was approved for by the banana industry or the banana sector. And most of that will be going towards ensuring that this sector, sorry, this office or small unit is maintained and you have the oil and so we can continue that whole program of black sticker talk control. It's unfortunate at a time when we are focusing very, very seriously on quality that this project came to an end. And I'm hoping that we can have some dialogue with the Taiwanese government to see how we can maybe get some funding for us to be able to maybe in the next few years or so find some way of getting it back because it is very, very critical for the banana industry. Before we get to break, the question of inputs, we have gone to have meetings with the farmers and one of the main issues that come to the fore is the question of the high cost of fertilizers. How are you going to deal with this? This is a global problem and the farmers, I understand the concern. The concerns are genuine because we're talking about quality. But if we do not have the inputs, which is fertilizer and the vidate and all the other chemicals that we need for production and quality, we must be able to have the requisite resources in terms of the fertilizer and so on. And not just having it. We need to have it on a timely basis because it's not about applying the fertilizer today and wondering when is the next step. It must be a continuous cycle in terms of that. But we know COVID has caused that because there's actually increase in freight and cost of manufacturing. But we have a bigger issue, which is the Ukraine and Russia war. And if from what I'm hearing that Russia is the major producer of crude oil, which is linked to the production of fertilizer, we have to anticipate a major increase in fertilizer and other farm inputs in the coming years. I am hoping not too long from now our government will come to the assistance of the farmers in terms of helping them, in terms of reducing the cost of fertilizers and other inputs for our farmers because they really, really need it, considering that since last year, July, they have not been selling much in terms of bananas. And so I understand their concerns. I was very happy that the government gave some financial support to the NFTO, to be able to assist NFTO in getting fertilizers and other farm inputs that farmers can benefit from in terms of a subsidized price. That's very good, very good. Which is very important for the farmers. And the signing ceremony for that was done sometime last week, week before. And I know for sure that soon from now, the farmers will stand to benefit in terms of... So there's hope for the farmers? There's hope for the farmers. Very good, very good. This amount of been a little patience. We just received from the government of Morocco nine containers of fertilizers, which we are hoping that a decision will be made in terms of the distribution of the fertilizer to our vegetable farmers, our planting farmers, and maybe some of our banana farmers as well. So there is some level of assistance coming on the way. And I'm just hoping that it will not take too long for our farmers to benefit from that. Thank you. You're watching Agricultural in the Move. We do for our break. Don't go away. Black Cegatoka is a fungal disease, which affects the leaves of banana and plantain plants. It causes a reduction in the size of the bunch and the quality of the fruit. In commercial banana and plantain production, Black Cegatoka disease is controlled with chemical as well as non-chemical measures. Chemical measures involve the application of spray oil and fungicides. However, it is neither practical nor safe to use agrochemicals to control Black Cegatoka in backyard gardens. Non-chemical measures include good agronomic and cultural practices, such as weed control and proper drainage. Affected parts of leaves should be pruned or cut off from the plant. Use a clean, sharp cutlass or knife. Infected leaves should be disposed of properly or added to a compost heap. For more information on how to treat and control Black Cegatoka on your farm or in your backyard garden, contact the Black Cegatoka Management Unit at 451-5491, or email BPMU at candw.lc. This message is brought to you by the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the International Cooperation and Development Fund of the Republic of China in Taiwan. Welcome back to the program, Agriculture on the Move, and of course with me is Honourable Alfred Prosper, the Minister with Responsibility for Agriculture. And Mr. Minister, we spoke about the banana industry, and of course I'm hoping that that sector gets back on its feet for the farmers and for the economy of this country. The other sector that's very important for us is the fisheries sector. I heard, you know, you in parliament during the parliamentary debate make some pronouncement. Tell us exactly what is there for the fisheries sector in this budget cycle. What is there in this budget cycle for the fisheries sector is very small. It's just a little over one million dollars, and that amount is really get towards the upgrade of the fishing facilities on the island. And it was really targeted, it was really targeted for free areas, the one in Sansu Sea, the one in January, and the facility in Vufuot. But during my budget presentation, there were many calls coming from my colleague ministers indicating that they also had concerns with regards to the fishing facility in the constituency. But one of the things that I'm really concerned about regards to the fisheries facilities, it is really, most if not all of those gifts coming from the government of Japan, they actually built or donated those facilities to the government and people of St. Lucia. But what we notice is that we do not have a maintenance program for those facilities. You know, it's one thing to give you a gift, but allowing it to deteriorate and there is no maintenance plan. And this is one of the things that I have discussed with my peers in terms of putting a maintenance program in place for those facilities, because they are deteriorating very rapidly considering their close proximity to the sea. So we have to bear that in mind, but the whole aspect of the fishes in terms of the fisheries sector, I'm happy to announce that we passed a new agricultural and fisheries amendment bill the last few weeks in parliament. And it was really to include a number of those sub sectors that were not there when we had the first act in 2014. And so Seamos farmers stand to benefit in terms of rope, twine, and a number of other things. We have even the forestry sector stand to benefit from in terms of, you know, parts for chainsaws and other milling equipment. And so we have really included a number of those those persons who were not in there. But really and truly we need our fishermen, especially our fisheries cooperatives, to be a lot more organized and honorable. MIA Polit and myself, we met all the fisheries cooperatives, which really included the chairpersons and managers a few days ago, to really get a feel as to what are some of the challenges. And the challenges are many. They are concerned about the high cost of fuel. They are concerned about high cost of managing the facilities that they occupy. They spoke about training for our fishers. They spoke about training for the persons I'm serving on, the executives of those fisheries cooperatives and a number of areas. They mentioned fad and the issues that they have with the fad. They mentioned areas like theft of fish pots and so on. There are a number of challenges. And what we indicated to them is that we will sit, we will discuss and see how we can assist them in dealing with a lot of those challenges. But I was very happy that we were able to get 1.1 million dollars in the budget, that I'm hoping that we can use to upgrade, improve and to really give those existing fisheries facilities a face lift and to really encourage our fisheries cooperatives to be prepared to take on the responsibilities of managing what belongs to them. Just imagine you have a fisheries cooperative, for example, the Denry, manage the Denry facility. There are tremendous opportunities for them. They can benefit from health insurance. They can benefit from education for the children. And you know, pension scheme for the own welfare. So it is really something I want to urge them to really do and really make an attempt as fishers to benefit from what belongs to you. Blue ocean. I suppose it's also, people are asking questions. The fishers are saying, look, where are we going to sell our fish? We're still unaware of the operations of Blue Oceans. Where is that with your government and the private sector? First, I want to say it was an arrangement that Blue Oceans had with the previous government. There was a lease agreement and I did not want to go into the details of the lease. But the entity encountered some serious issues financially. And COVID from what I was told was responsible for that. That has led to the closure of the facility since November last year. And I have been very, very, very concerned about that because this was a facility constructed for our fishers to sell and to market the fish. But they are currently in a very bad situation because they have to now be going night and day selling the fish when it was easy for them to just sell the fish directly to the facility. The cabinet has discussed it. We had a discussion with the leaser or the lessee. And we are trying our best to see how we can get the facility operationalized as soon as, because we know the fishers already depend on it. And we are doing our best to make it happen. Very good. Very, very good. Good news. I hope the fishers are happy to hear that will come soon and the problem will be solved because they are very, very concerned. Because every day, trust me, I mean, I'm by the bay nearly every day and I'm getting that feeling. Since I work at the ministry, I keep coming and asking questions. It's a very, very serious concern. The other thing is that's of serious concern to you, I'm sure. And it's the jetty in Miku. Sadly, it's just a sad situation. And how are you approaching it? You notice I take a deep breath. I notice that this jetty, I must say, unfortunately has not met the expectations of the fishers in Miku. Simply because three and a half weeks after it was installed, it was proven to be useless. It was a donation made by the government of Jampan. That's, you know, $2.9 million. So just imagine $2.9 million spent on a jetty and it only lasted, well, it didn't last three weeks before it was just ineffective. So now our challenge is we have to get rid of it. We have to remove it because it's very dangerous to the fishers, to the boats and so on. And what has made it even worse is that you have a buildup of the sagasam right around the jetty. Now let's imagine the Atlantic side of St. Lucia. You have a floating jetty. How would you expect or anticipate that a floating jetty would last only three weeks? So now we are in a situation where we must dismantle it. Wow. But there is a cost attached to it. We have begun engaging the government of Jampan in terms of informing of the situation. And in the coming days, I am calling on the people, the fishermen of Niko that expect in the coming days that we will dismantle the jetty. But you know the unfortunate situation is that we are not, I'm not in a position now to indicate to the fishers what will be the alternative in terms of a jetty. Until you get the results. But I want to make this point that you see when you rush projects, these are some of the end result. And just imagine if we had taken that 2.9 million EC dollars and build a stable jetty of fixed jetty out of wood. I am certainly sure that we would not have a situation like that now. So I really understand what the pain that the fishers in Niko are going through. But I just want to inform that it's unfortunate and this is the reality. And our government will do its best to see what can be done in terms of an alternative from assisting the farmers in getting the jetty. Final words from you sir, we have come to the end of the program. I must say I'm always happy to be here to really engage the farmers. I wish I had more time to discuss the whole food security issue and the whole, the possibility of increased food prices based on what's happening in Ukraine and Russia. But I want to encourage our farmers to understand that it's a reality. We had COVID, but now our COVID situation has been compounded by the situation in Ukraine. And I want to just call on them to ask them to consider maybe, because one of the things I'm concerned about is all our seeds that we use to produce comes from outside of St. Lucia. I want to encourage our farmers to in light of what is happening and what is expected to happen. Start storing seeds from foods that they grow and eat, because we may find ourselves being challenged in terms of high cost of seeds and high cost of inputs, et cetera. But I want to say to them, just be hopeful, we as a ministry, as a government will do our best to ensure that we give them the level of assistance that they require. Thank you so far for being here. I wish you success in every endeavor. And I know you mean well and I know you will succeed. Thank you again for being here. Thank you very much. You've been watching Our Reculture on the Move. Thank you for viewing the program. And don't forget, we have our Banana Expo 2022 coming up on the 6th of May. Our Reculture is our business and eat fresh. It's not just best. I'm Philip Sidney. Goodbye.