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Agrofest to the Bottomline

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BU research supports that Agrofest started in 2005. It means by any reasonable expectation the objectives of the event should be starting to bear fruit.

What are the objectives?

  • To demonstrate the symbiotic relationship between agriculture and the community.
  • To highlight the impact of agriculture on other economic sectors.
  • To cater to the wide and divergent interests of the Barbadian public.
  • To demonstrate the agricultural career opportunities for young people.
  • To demonstrate the importance of agriculture in feeding and providing economic support to the family.
  • To portray agriculture in a fun and interesting way.

Source: BAS website

 

The blogmaster respectfully suggests that if we review economic indicators in listed in recent Central Bank reports, there has been no positive movement in the economic indicators measuring agriculture output. The blogmaster agrees attending Agrofest 2020 was a satisfying social event to take the family for a couple of hours.

What say you?

 

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73 responses to “Agrofest to the Bottomline”

  1. Wily Coyote Avatar
    Wily Coyote

    Good QUESTIONS. This is but another example of one of BARBADOS MAIN FAILURES, COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS. When they set up these type of initiative/programs the facilitators consider the operation COMPLETE after initial setup with no future followup or evaluation assessments of thier effectiveness. It becomes an annual function with little or no assessment of ROI(Return On Investment). It basically becomes an annual government political PHOTO OP and BRAGGING affair.

    To use the blogmasters quote, SAME OLD SAME OLD.

  2. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    The blogmaster respectfully suggests that if review economic indicators in a recent Central Bank, there has been no positive movement in the economic indicators measuring agriculture output……(Quote)

    What is this in simple Engish? Should we be polite, or call out illiteracy?

  3. R.G Avatar
    R.G

    What is this in simple Engish? Should we be polite, or call out illiteracy? {Quote}

    @ Hal Austin

    There ain’t nobody on BU whose structure of sentences and usage of the English Language are worse than Mariposa’s.

    SO HOW COME YOU NEVER, EVER ASK HER NONE OF THOSE SILLY QUESTIONS or IMPLY she is ILLITERATE, BUT DOES GIVE HER “SPOT ONS” INSTEAD?

    YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A DECEITFUL HYPOCRITE WHO LIKES TO ATTACK AND INSULT CERTAIN PEOPLE.

  4. David Avatar
    David

    @R.G

    Do not be distracted, try to comment on the substantive point.

    Too err is human.

    Good that Wily despite the omission used context to understand the point.

  5. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Prior to “Agrofest” there was the Annual Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition in Queens Park.

  6. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    those are some beautiful black bellies in that file photo. almost a shame to eat them. is sheep meat still called mutton or it is lamb?

    agrofest sounds v interesting and looks like the kids enjoy it.

  7. John A Avatar
    John A

    Were any financial institutions there to offer start up capital to potential farmers?

    Did government have a booth offering loans through any of its funding institutions to current farmers for water storage devices etc?

    So other than a display what actually took place to take agriculture forward?

  8. john2 Avatar
    john2

    I think the Wily ran off the wrong track

    David
    There is also the one for manufactures (BMEX I think it is called), same can be said. I think thing are down because of the economic conditions + other conditions some of which other mentioned yesterday. These EXPOs should not be judge like the Wily.

  9. john2 Avatar
    john2

    @ hants

    I remember a very long time ago they used to have an agriculture show some where in st phillip I think.
    same kind of thing like what is now in the park.. I was too young to give any more details but I remember leaving the schools in a bus and seeing all the animals

  10. john2 Avatar
    john2

    Was there a Home Agricultural Station?
    Home is the name

  11. fortyacresandamule Avatar
    fortyacresandamule

    Seeing that the world is potentially facing a global pandemic, the issue of food security weighs heavily on my mind. What if the global food supply chain is disrupted?

  12. David Avatar
    David

    @John2

    BIMEX and AGROFEST are perceived as social events on the annual calendar by many. How are the two events translating to change in how we do business in manufacturing and agriculture?

  13. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    What are farmers doing to create marketable business plans? Do you know?

  14. David Avatar
    David

    @fortyacres

    Global supply change is already being disrupted.

  15. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ David.

    The problem is most farmers know how to farm and don’t get too involved with a business plan. So everybody grows say tomatoes the same time causing a glut and a fall in prices. Few however have greenhouses so then rain falls and tomatoes disappear for 4 months, or sell at $7 a pound if you can find them. Following this someone will say there is no money in tomatoes. Really?

    Point is there is no plan or body that can help guide them either. I keep saying government needs to enter into a large scale green house project with say 3 sizes of green houses for rent. I mean they have the biggest land bank on the island and there is no shortage of good agricultural land lying idle either.

    Action vs talk in other words.

  16. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    The operative word in the comment is marketable plans. Farming is not about digging holes, sowing seeds and turning on the sprinkler these days.

    Are we there yet?

  17. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Is barbados readily prepared for the social and economic impact from the Coronavirus
    With China literally having to closed its doors to major supply markets
    It means that the chain of productive supply would be broken and small economies would be caught in a dragnet of having to provide many necessary supplies for their populace which can include food

  18. fortyacresandamule Avatar
    fortyacresandamule

    @David. Maketing plan is not easy as sound. Even developed countries with their technology and analytics failed regularly to optimise and maximise supply with demand in the agriculture sector.

    Over fifty years now I hear the same complain about the same problems in the agri sector to no avail. Number one on the list is issue of matching supply with demand at the right time.

  19. fortyacresandamule Avatar
    fortyacresandamule

    @David. Agriculture is a technical and scientific endeavor and at the same time one of the most risky of businesses. That is why it is the most subsided sector by the government in most countries. And not only that, food security is paramount for any credible sovreign state.

    We in Barbados, should be at least 50% sufficient in fruits, tubers, other starcy food, vegetables, and meat.

  20. fortyacresandamule Avatar
    fortyacresandamule

    @Mariposa. NO COUNTRY IS FULLY PREPARED.

  21. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Forty,

    Don’t exaggerate the food security argument. That emerged only in the Second World War. As to subsidies to farmers, the US is the biggest culprit, then the UK. Farmers are greedy and hold the nation to ransom.
    We have had this argument before on BU, with a UK farmer from Kent.

  22. fortyacresandamule Avatar
    fortyacresandamule

    @David. Growing up with my granparents in rural BIM over 60 years we were self-sufficient. I never felt hunger. Ground provisions, bananas, plantains, legumes, fruits, vegetables etc you name it we had it in the field. Not to mention plenty of free-range fowls, goats, and over a dozen pigs. We always had meat ( pork) cured in smoked in the kitchen. I really miss those days.

  23. David Avatar
    David

    @fortyacres

    We have reached the tipping point. It is time for the government to put up or let the people starve. We find millions to subsidize airlift and waive millions in taxes but underwriting initiatives to feed ourselves?

  24. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Nothing symbolises British fears of a standard-slashing US trade deal better than chlorinated chickens: those zombie birds, barely able to move, cluck or feed, stuffed with chemicals that force them to grow to unbelievable sizes, sitting in their own waste, covered in sores rather than feathers. At the end of their miserable life of confinement, they are washed in chlorine or a similar chemical to get rid of the bacteria that infect them.
    In fact, the wash is believed to hide rather than eliminate some bacteria, potentially driving much higher rates of food poisoning in the US, not to mention the appallingly treated workers in the industry who suffer “rashes, burns, destruction of the eye tissue, difficulty breathing, and inflammation of the respiratory system” as a result of exposure.
    But chicken is only the tip of the iceberg. Despite government claims, here are five other unpleasant foods that could make their way to our menus as part of a UK-US trade deal.

    Antibiotic meat
    Much US meat is produced on an industrial scale, with conditions as bad as those in the chicken sheds. In particular, hormones, steroids and antibiotics are regularly used to make animals bigger and faster, and to prevent them getting ill in the unnaturally close conditions in which they are kept. Many cows and pigs never see sunlight, walk freely or eat grass. Many of the chemicals used are bad for us too – antibiotic overuse is threatening to make these vital drugs useless, and to bring down a pillar of modern medicine. Another chemical, ractopamine, is regularly fed to industrially farmed pigs in the US, despite making the animals collapse, turn aggressive, suffer liver and kidney dysfunction, and even die. But it probably affects humans too, which is why not just the EU but also Russia and China have banned this dangerous chemical, as well as US pork that contains it.

    GM foods
    The majority of US processed foods contain genetically modified ingredients, unlike British food. The US is demanding a “science-based” approach to food. This sounds good, but in trade deals “science-based” is a shorthand for more genetically modified food and more intensive chemical use. It contrasts with the EU’s precautionary principle, which takes a cautious approach to health risks and bans foods where there’s a credible risk to health. In the US, the balance of proof works the other way, and there is a high barrier that has to be passed before “harm” translates into regulation. Lead paint, banned in most of Europe before the second world war, was not prohibited in the US until 1978. Boris Johnson and his lead negotiator to the EU have talked about the need for the UK’s approach to food standards to be “governed by science”. GM is coming this way.
    US rules allow milk to have nearly double the level of somatic cells – white blood cells that fight bacterial infection – that the UK allows. In practice, this means more pus in our milk, and more infections going untreated in cows. Much US milk would be deemed unfit for human consumption in Britain. Vegans don’t escape unscathed, because the US allows far more pesticide residue on fruit and vegetables, and allows 72 chemicals banned in the EU, including some responsible for serious harm. That’s before we get to the truly horrific – the rat hair, insect fragments and excrement traces that the US allows in small amounts in food.

    Unsafe baby food
    Even baby food carries higher risks in the US. In Britain, baby food has special standards including a complete ban on artificial colours and E-numbers, very low maximum levels of pesticides and limits on added sugar. The US has no specific regulations for baby food. A recent test of baby foods in the US found that 95% contained toxic metals, with 73% containing traces of arsenic. While the amounts may be small, the lack of tight regulation on US baby foods, and the certainty that sugar is often added to toddler snack food, should cause deep disquiet.

    All-American Stilton cheese and Cornish pasties
    Britain currently protects certain foods to ensure they’re made to specific standards and to promote local farming and industry. Think Cornish pasties, Melton Mowbray pork pies, Scottish wild salmon and Stilton blue cheese. In trade talks to date, the US has “pressed the UK to move away from current EU approach on generic terms”. American companies would be able to produce Cornish pasties on a massive scale and sell them back to us. The US also wants to “eliminate … unjustified labelling” saying it unfairly discriminates against American foods and, incredibly, the administration “view[s] the introduction of warning labels as harmful rather than as a step to public health”.
    These are not marginal concerns for the US – food is not an aspect of a future deal that Britain will be able to simply opt out of. It is central to US objectives that call for “greater regulatory compatibility to reduce burdens associated with unnecessary differences in regulations and standards” including “a mechanism to remove expeditiously unwarranted barriers that block the export of US food and agricultural products”. The US trade deal is a threat to our food standards and our farmers, and the US will not sign a deal that doesn’t have food standards in it.

  25. fortyacresandamule Avatar
    fortyacresandamule

    @Hal. I am sorry, but I have to emphasise food security. Even if it meant, over time we become sufficient in at least vegetable production. Going forward, we certainly will have to change our taste.

  26. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Forty acres
    Not being an alarmist but more countries are better prepared for food shortages in a time of crisis
    Your response speaks well to many in barbados who belives that barbados is an island unto itself and nothing that affects global markets can affect barbados
    This crisis is a crisis of global proportions where the effect of China being one of the world’s leaders in manufacturing and productivity can have an effect to small islands nations similar to famine as it closes it supply doors
    Not to mention grocery shelves having dwindling inventory and which can be a cause for them to fold.
    In the USA there has already been stores where certain food items are hard to find and when asked when the supply would be in stock
    Management replies are they do not know
    The sad part with all the negative fall out which is happening in international countries this govt remains stoic and lackadaisical about telling the overall truth to the people
    This is more than a health crisis but a virus which carries with (it )a social and economic impact without people becoming sick because of the virus

  27. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @Forty

    What are you emphasising about food security?

  28. fortyacresandamule Avatar
    fortyacresandamule

    @Mariposa. You are way off. Where did I implied that Barbados is immune to global shocks of this nature? I simply itoned that no country ( not even the great USA) could fully handled a full blown coronavirus epidemic.

  29. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    @ Hal March 2, 2020 3:45 PM

    ” chlorinated chickens: those zombie birds, barely able to move, cluck or feed, stuffed with chemicals that force them to grow to unbelievable sizes, sitting in their own waste, covered in sores rather ”

    Contrary to what you and people in UK are deriding.it is perfectly safe to use an acid-wash to remove bacteria such as E.coli which form attachment to the epidermis of the bird that are extremely difficult to remove by normal processing . The use of organic acid such acetic acid has been long recognized as a method of decontaminating the surface of birds of pathogenic bacteria. The efficacy of the organic acid wash can be increased by substituting a hydrogen atom in the methyl group of acetic acid (vinegar by a chlorine atom) eg. CH3COOH (vinegar/acetic acid) + Cl2(chlorine)= CH2Cl COOH( mono-chloro-acetic acid). When mixed and sprayed on the surface of slaughtered birds, the substituted acid forms an unstable compound of hypochlorous acid. Hypochlorous acid (HOCl) is a weak acid that forms when chlorine dissolves in water, and itself partially dissociates( resonance dissociation), forming hypochlorite, ClO−. HClO and ClO− are oxidizers, and the primary disinfection agents of chlorine solutions. I suppose there will be talk of not drinking potable water which has been chlorinated to prevent the spread of water borne diseases. Were it not for chlorination of potable drinking water, a lot of people would die. The levels at which the chlorination is used is perfectly safe for the average person. Having said all of the fore going Chlorine when used at 1000ppm is carcinogenic. At levels of 1-200ppm it is perfectly harmless as demonstrated by risk assessment studies.. The question I am posing is this : if it is okay to drink chlorinated water shouldn’t it be okay consume acid washed poultry? The main reason why acid wash has be used is the fact that the average consumer is sloppy when it comes to food safety. For example ,a knife is used to dissect a bird and the unwashed knife is then used to prepare salads. There is also the problem of not properly cooking the meat.
    Wasn’t there a mad cow disease in the UK? Wasn’t there the horse meat scandal? Some years ago there was an E.coli outbreak in Scotland. What about the foot and mouth disease outbreak? People in glass houses should not throw stones, that is a moral one would do well to bear in mind.
    what is wrong with GM foods? GM foods are merely the speeding up of classical breeding techniques. For example you want to breed a cow for improved milk attributes. From your records you select you best cow(milk production wise) and cross it with a bull of proven pedigree. The F1 cross might have the attributes you are looking for, but in most cases such will not happen. The gene for improved milk is linked to traits that are not desired. You then to do what is known as back crossing to either the cow or the bull. Several such back crossings may have to be done before the desired trait is made. Might take twenty or more years. With GM you know the gene, you cut it out enzymatically and insert it . bingo problem solved. Hal stop being a Luddite.

  30. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Robert

    Not me. Argue with the EU scientists.

  31. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    As I have on previous occasions AGROFEST is a waste of time. As a final year Agriculture student in 1971, Tom Henderson, Professor of Agricultural extension explained to the class why it was the case. I have alluded to his reasons elsewhere on this Blog. Elsewhere on this Blog I have said that James Paul has not got a clue about where the thing should go :He first has go and learn agriculture science. THE BAS has been used as a political stepping stone for the last thirty-odd years

  32. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    @ Hal March 2, 2020 5:26 PM

    Must confess that I glanced at the article got the rough gist of the matter. I am glad that you are not a Luddite. If there was regular shortages of food The UK and Europe would be singing from a different hymn book.

  33. Silly Woman Avatar
    Silly Woman

    “The blogmaster respectfully suggests that if review economic indicators in a recent Central Bank, there has been no positive movement in the economic indicators measuring agriculture output…(Quote)

    @Hal Austin March 2, 2020 7:04 AM “What is this in simple Engish?”

    Agriculture int looking too good.

  34. Silly Woman Avatar
    Silly Woman

    @Hal Austin March 2, 2020 2:53 PM “Farmers are greedy and hold the nation to ransom.”

    Farmers are not greedy. Fat people are greedy. They want a full guts 3 times a day, and they want to pay way too little.

    Food is life.

    How much is life worth?

  35. Silly Woman Avatar
    Silly Woman

    @fortyacresandamule March 2, 2020 3:01 PM “@David. Growing up with my granparents in rural BIM over 60 years we were self-sufficient. I never felt hunger.”

    Me neither. And until i was an adult I thought that t was so for everybody. I’ve still never been hungry. Still grow much of my own food,

  36. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    How is it that three restaurants in barbados put their employees on the bread line and there is not the usual Shock and awe responses coming from the BU rumshop
    These three most likely are casualties of the Bert program
    A program which has lend itself to causing high prices
    A program which has taken money out of peoples pocket
    A program which all by itself has set barbadian households on a path to poverty
    There will be no economic recovery with Bert

  37. s Avatar
    s

    @robert lucas

    Talking about acid washing chickens and acetic acid/vinegar.

    Is this why our mothers “lime and salted” the meat and then washed and seasoned it before cooking?

    I’ve heard that the Brtish have had to re-intoduce domestic science in all public schools because so many young people never learned how to cook.

    We are talking about robotics in Barbados. I am not a Luddite, I have nothing against robots and robotics, but i wonder how many of our young men ad women, say those under age 25, know how to prepare a nutritious, tasty, inexpensive meal?

    Or do they think that in the short term they will be able to buy a robot to do it for them?

  38. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Mariposa

    Spot on.

  39. Silly Woman Avatar
    Silly Woman

    @ Mariposa March 2, 2020 6:23 PM “How is it that three restaurants in barbados put their employees on the bread line and there is not the usual Shock and awe responses coming from the BU rumshop These three most likely are casualties of the Bert program A program which has lend itself to causing high prices A program which has taken money out of peoples pocket”

    So didn’t Cin-Cin and company say that their business was mostly dependent on the tourist market?

    So tell me Mariposa how many Bajans can afford to go out to dinner at $125 USD per plate.

    Certainly not me

  40. R.G Avatar
    R.G

    @ Silly Woman

    Spot on.

  41. Silly Woman Avatar
    Silly Woman

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2020/03/02/workers-in-search-of-answers-after-sudden-closure-of-three-restaurants/
    Workers in search of answers after sudden closure of three restaurants

  42. Silly Woman Avatar
    Silly Woman

    In a statement issued today, Chief Executive Officer Joanne Pooler blamed the closure of the restaurants on a significant drop in visitor spend over the last 12 months, a decline in the British Pound Sterling exchange rate and increased taxes on tourism-related restaurants.

  43. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    @ S March 2, 2020 6:27 PM

    Correct and also as a tenderizer. Also to improve the taste.unless you are accustomed to eating unseasoned meats. The latter would take some time for one to become accustomed.

  44. Silly Woman Avatar
    Silly Woman

    The last time we had a big family “do” we had to cap it at $50 USD per plate, plus drinks.

    Because after the “do” is done we still have to buy soap, toilet paper, bread, milk and pay for electricity and water.

    $125 USD per plate int for most of we, not even for a wedding, graduation or 25th anniversary.

    We might go up to $125 USD per plate for a small 50th anniversary party, small because 50 years on most of our elders and most of our friends are dead and don’t need to be entertained.

    Gotta be practical.

  45. Silly Woman Avatar
    Silly Woman

    Thanks Robert. in food preparation i still mostly follow the old fashioned ways of my fore mothers.

  46. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Oh and the Chief ex also forgot the numerous taxes govt placed on tourist / industry from them screwing a light bulb into a lamp to flushing the toilet
    Govt made a decision to pay Bert first and let the crumbs fall off the table for all and sundry to fight over and the result is disaster
    Today is a huge example of showing govt they cant have it both ways
    Mia deceptive practices are beginning to bite her in the arsee
    Mia is not an economist she will be remembered as the Butcher of the barbados economy

  47. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    How come some people could just establish a pig farm with 500 pigs right in the midst of a residential district and the neighbors have to complain about the stench that is affecting their lives?
    To add insult to injury the Gov’t closed a similiar one at the same location sometime ago.
    I can’t kill a pig in my backyard but a pig farm no problem

  48. David Avatar
    David

    It is amazing the only source of info about this matter for some of these overseas commenters is Facebook and the newspaper yet they feel embolden to pontificate with authority about every Rh topic in Barbados especially if it is negative.

  49. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @ac
    “Mia is not an economist she will be remembered as the Butcher of the barbados economy”
    Unfortunately the “Butcher” has already been reserved for Big Sink. He wrote his name on history’s page long before the former MoE, grabbed the prime ministerial reins.

  50. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Shut your mouth and just gatherin. Your money is all we want from you.

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