Barbados Underground

550 comments

• Donna.

  September 19, 2021 1:26 PM

  

  Stop packing so many birds in one coop! You torture the birds and don’t expect them to die?

  My cousin reduces the number of birds she keeps in the coop during the hot season.

  Another cousin of mine spent a short time working for a large chicken farmer. Short because he could not stomach what he saw. When he told me what he saw, I stopped buying their chicken. I now buy from my other cousin ONLY. She raises chickens in a humane manner. I also buy her eggs only.

  Chickens should at least enjoy the short life they have.

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• Sargeant

  September 19, 2021 3:16 PM

  

  @Dame Bajan
  They should all come to Canada
  ++++++++++++++++
  There are good farmers and there are bad/indifferent farmers, even in Canada. I would not give a blanket pass to farmers in Canada that employ migrant foreign workers. Several years ago, I also visited a farm with migrant workers and I was appalled at their living conditions and more recently farm workers were complaining that they couldn’t get time off to be tested for COVID at the height of the crisis where farm labourers were among those that perished from COVID

  It seems as if nothing has changed since my last visit.

  https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/migrant-farm-workers-housing-conditions-new-report-1.6060423

  LikeLiked by 1 person
• Hants

  September 20, 2021 5:39 PM

  

  https://www.nationnews.com/2021/09/20/met-office-monitoring-two-systems-202109201931151836/

  https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gtwo.php?basin=atlc&fdays=5

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• Dame Bajans

  September 30, 2021 9:47 PM

  

  @Sarge

  This is the first I have heard of this. That report is chilling. In Southern Ontario you have large factory farms. In Eastern Ontario, where I am, we have small family owned and run farms. They supply the Farm Boys, sell at the farm gate and have stalls around the City. They also have pick your own and that is how I met the Jamaicans with the car and blasting reggae music. I went to pick strawberries and they were weeding the raspberries at that time.

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• Dame Bajans

  October 5, 2021 1:23 PM

  

  Well yesterday I arvested my sweet potatoes. I started these slips froma Honduran potato. Was surprised by the harvest. Some of these critters are huge like you get at home and we only have four months. I am going to weigh some and see if some are two pounds.

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• David

  October 7, 2021 4:08 PM

  

  Use agro-tech for food security, region told – Use agro-tech for food security, region told:

  https://barbadostoday.bb/2021/10/07/use-agro-tech-for-food-security-region-told/

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• Dame Bajans

  October 7, 2021 4:27 PM

  

  It wont hurt Jamaica much. When I go to the markets there I don’t see imported fruits and vegetables. They even export ground provision, mangoes, ackees, cassava, sweet potatoes, yams, june plums, an assortment of island drinks, etc. They make their own cheese which you can buy in Canada too.

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• David

  October 9, 2021 7:39 AM

  

  Sea egg numbers near record low

  There will not be a sea egg season until the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy can figure out exactly why the local delicacies are disappearing from these shores.
  Minister Kirk Humphrey said there was a record low number of sea eggs in Barbados’ waters.
  “You will understand that every single year, around June/ July, we send persons out to survey all the coasts. The divers then report on the levels of maturity and the number of sea eggs they see and we use that to determine if we are going to have an open season or not.
  “This year has been one of the lowest on record in the numbers of sea eggs seen. In fact, the divers reported in some areas there were no eggs at all and the ones they did see were very immature, so we could not possibly open sea egg season this year,” he said.
  Humphrey said the Coastal Zone Management Unit was looking at what was happening to the prickly sea creatures.
  “They are looking at what is causing the decline of the sea eggs, which I think is more important in the long term. We believe one of the reasons is the disappearance of a particular seaweed which the urchins used to feed on.
  “Can we replace that
  seaweed? Are there nutrients in the water that were not there before? We are investigating all this along with the Barbados Coastal Zone Management Unit and hopefully once we settle that, there will be a much bigger bounty for everyone,” the minister said.
  He urged Barbadians to be responsible and ensure Barbados could have a sustainable sea egg season in the future by holding strain a bit longer.
  Humphrey also addressed a viral video showing sea eggs being harvested and sold. He said it was an old video, at least four years old, and was “just somebody up to mischief”. ( CA)

  
  Source: Nation

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• Cuhdear Bajanc

  October 20, 2021 10:06 AM

  

  @Dame Bajans

  The sweet potato harvest is very good too. Some indeed near 2 pounds. We started harvesting last week

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• Hants

  October 22, 2021 8:11 PM

  

  Progress.

  https://www.nationnews.com/2021/10/22/mobile-facilities-agricultural-workers/

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• David

  October 24, 2021 6:38 AM

  

  PM: One water rate coming for farmers
  After three years of crying out for an ease from the garbage and sewage collection levy, which saw some farmers paying heavy commercial rates for water, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley says her administration is on the verge of introducing a single water rate for the agricultural sector.
  She did not say exactly when the change would take effect but said the logistical issues of the roll-out were now being finalised.
  She made the disclosure while delivering the featured remarks for the annual general meeting of the Barbados Agricultural Society yesterday.
  The Prime Minister said this was one of the issues in urgent need of a resolution as Barbados seeks to shore up its food and nutrition security in light of the logistical supply chain and shipping challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in global shortages of several commodities.
  The garbage and sewage collection levy, which was introduced in 2018, saw commercial entities, which included farms, paying 50 per cent of their water bill, with half of that amount going to the Sanitation Services Authority towards garbage collection and the other half remaining with the Barbados Water Authority.
  Farmers have long complained that their farms do not generate any waste that is collected by the Sanitation Service Authority and therefore such a tax was not only unfair but burdensome.
  On the other hand, they said some farms benefit from much cheaper water supplied by the Barbados Agricultural Management Company (BAMC).
  “We know that there are challenges with respect to water as it relates to farming and that there is a class of person that pays next to nothing because of the facilities offered by the BAMC. And then there is a class of person that pays what is similar to commercial rates, which is difficult to sustain.
  Working group
  “I am happy to report to you that we have a working group that is led by Ambassador Dr Clyde Mascoll and they have completed the consultations for the establishment of a single rate for water in this country,” Mottley said.
  She added: “We cannot have an agricultural industry in this country without affordable access to water and it was for this reason that I applaud the Minister [of Agriculture]
  and the Chief Agricultural Officer for engaging with Dr Mascoll and the Barbados Water Authority to come up with a national solution to this very unfortunate set of circumstances.
  “At the same time, we have to be fair to the Government, and those who use the commodity have to be prepared to pay for what they use. The Minister of Agriculture would be using technology to roll out aspects of this programme within a prepaid capacity so as to minimise cash flow challenges.”
  The Prime Minister also said that plans are in the pipeline for the use of drone technology to tackle perennial problems such as praedial larceny, pest control and damage assessment in the event of natural disasters.
  She said the plantation model approach to agriculture was no longer viable and a country with such high labour costs must rely on technology to take the sector to its full potential. (CLM)

  Source: Nation

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• David

  October 31, 2021 6:26 AM

  

  Farmers still awaiting land
  Two months after the end of the Farmers’ Empowerment and Enfranchisement Drive (FEED) Programme, facilitated by the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (BADMC), more than 200 farmers are still awaiting land allocation.
  However, Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir says they are conducting retrofitting, and at least one site will not be available until 2022.
  One farmer, who asked for anonymity, said the programme started on May 5 and ended on August 9 when they were asked to fill out land survey forms to be allocated spots under the land lease programme.
  “We were asked to select which site and what type of agriculture we were interested in, whether crops, livestock, fruit tree production, aquaponics, apiculture or hydroponics. That was since August 9 . .. . We only got correspondence from the facilitator of the programme [two Wednesdays ago] apologising about the delay after queries were made by a reporter,” she said.
  The farmer noted the email stated that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials could not move with any haste to allocate the land.
  “This would have caused some setbacks for people who would have anticipated getting the land within a month or so after the programme. People had plans to go ahead and get things going with their business . .. ,” she complained.
  Weir said the instalment of dams at some of the plantations had been challenging.
  “The one at River [Plantation in St Philip] is near completion. Once that is completed, we will allocate the land. There is no point putting them on the land; they have
  no access to water and then you have another problem,” he explained.
  The minister said that at Spring Hall and Mount Poyer plantations in St Lucy, a similar situation obtained.
  “They had carried out a whole series of cleaning and retrofitting of wells so they can have frequency of supply of water for the farmers. That has worked a bit, but the amount of farmers we’re going to have down there now, we’re also going to have to put a reservoir down there, and that work will start next year,” he said.
  Weir noted they were yet to launch the Haggatts Orchard in St Andrew, where many farmers will be engaged in agroforestry in the Scotland District.
  “We’re fixing the issue at Bawdens [St Andrew] as well and at Haggatts. I think after they are completed – and they are all near completion; the only one set to start next year is Spring Hall – then this whole thing with land will be settled.
  “We also have to settle with the Ministry of Housing as well, so they can vest some of the land in agriculture that when it is time to give the farmers land, it will be done through the BADMC,” he added. (RA)

  
  Source: Nation

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• Hants

  November 3, 2021 5:58 PM

  

  Jamaica can now export pineapples to Barbados

  https://www.nationnews.com/2021/11/03/jamaica-can-now-export-pineapples-barbados/

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• Donna

  November 3, 2021 8:02 PM

  

  That’s good! But we can grow some here as well.

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• Donna

  November 4, 2021 9:22 AM

  

  Another foolish question I have – why do Bajans buy pigeon peas? I have four trees that require no real attention and I need help picking the peas. A bumble bees just whizzed past my ear and chased me inside. I will try again later.

  I will soon make a list of things the country Bajan should not buy.

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• Dame Bajans

  November 4, 2021 10:14 AM

  

  Donna, I grow the short pigeon peas up here, The yield is not huge and I have to start them in the house in February. I find they like poor and rocky soil. I plant 3 peas to a hole.

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• David

  November 4, 2021 10:38 AM

  

  Plans to cut food import bill
  by CARLOS ATWELL carlosatwell@nationnews.com
  BARBADOS IS LOOKING to reduce its millions of dollars food import bill by ten per cent in two years’ time.
  Chief agricultural officer Keeley Holder said: “We have to look at the food import bill and desegregate it because 50 per cent of it is processed goods, 25 per cent is juices and alcoholic beverages, worth more than $100 million so when we talk about the food import bill from the agricultural point of view, we want to talk about the agricultural [food] import bill and that’s just over $100 million [around 25 per cent].
  “We have been making some good headway with regard to putting into place the interventions needed to see the increases in production and productivity to reduce the agricultural food import bill and we expect in the coming year we will see an even greater dent. We expect we can replace [imports with local varieties] by ten per cent within one or two years,” she told the DAILY NATION.
  In giving a breakdown, Holder said fresh fruits and vegetables accounted for about $60 million and out of that, only about five fruits and vegetables made up 67 per cent. She said the need to import those produce were driven by a lack of equipment, growth skill and or correct varieties and it was here they were working to improve.
  “For things like onions and carrots, you need to have a good growth skill as well as having the right varieties and having seed planters. When farmers don’t have those resources available to them it limits their production but that’s an easy win for us where we can target those things again because we used to have a lot more capacity when we had the resources we needed,” she said, adding watermelon also required growth skill and timing.
  The chief agriculturalist said broccoli and other leafy green vegetables as well as tomatoes usually needed a cool climate but as climate change was expected to increase temperatures worldwide, they were looking at breeding varieties which could grow in warmer conditions. Barbados was typically short of the required water for eight months of every year, which was where water augmentation came in, she explained.
  “When we desegregate the food import bill, you see there is a big need for research and development to fill in those missing areas to be able to service farmers
  and the Barbadian community on the whole, consistently and reliably,” she said.
  Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir said the ministry was using a targeted approach to reduce the food import bill, mentioning a drive to get local paw paws back into mass production. He said the ten per cent reduction would be a start but the aim would be to eventually replace all 25 per cent.
  Weir said the island was impacted by droughts, floods and pest invasions, all linked to climate change but they were making headway. He spoke about sourcing cheaper water for farmers.
  “We are crippled by the fact farmers needed a consistent supply of water but the water from the Barbados Water Authority is more expensive than the irrigation water through the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation and that is something we are trying to deal with through ambassador Clyde Mascoll so that we would have a rate for agriculture that is far more competitive,” he said, adding there was a water augmentation programmes at River, St Philip, while they were looking at developing others in Haggatts, St Andrew; Lears, St Michael; Spring Hall, St Lucy and more.

  Source: Nation

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• David

  November 4, 2021 10:39 AM

  

  Brasstacks family in mourning

  by Barry Alleyne
  barryalleyne@nationnews.com
  “BE GOOD, MY FRIEND.”
  Those favourite words of veteran broadcaster Dennis Johnson, his usual farewell to friends or mere acquaintances, echoed across the air on VOB’s Down to Brasstacks and in the halls of the Starcom Network yesterday as Barbados remembered one of its most beloved broadcast journalists.
  Former colleagues, friends and call-in programme regulars all paid tribute to Dennis Johnson in an emotional farewell on radio yesterday, after the 64-year-old music and political affairs aficionado died on Tuesday.
  On a day when tears flowed freely, Johnson was revered by former colleagues David Ellis and former boss at Starcom Network, Vic Fernandes, who first brought him to the station as a moderator on Down to Brasstacks. The popular caller who goes by the handle “Straker’s Tenantry” and some others who had gone back and forth with the affable Grenadian every time he was on air also used the forum to pay tribute.
  Fernandes, who first hired Johnson on a recommendation by Ellis, said Johnson had a passion for professional work, which was shown when he was the lead man on converting Yes 104.1 FM radio to Love FM, but he was more impressed by Johnson’s character. He added he never prioritised money ahead of product, a trait clearly evident when he was retrenched as programme manager at Starcom and took the less-well-paying position of senior producer.
  Broadcaster Ronnie Clarke, who worked with Johnson for more than two decades at Starcom, said he was devastated by his friend’s passing.
  “I’ve cried the entire night. I cried this morning,” he said on-air yesterday. “We would have worked extremely closely together over the years. We went to war together. I will always remember his character, his quality, his knowledge, his wisdom, and most of all, his authenticity in telling it like it is,” he asserted.
  Clarke said he and most colleagues had realised in recent times that Johnson’s health was not the best, but that he had maintained impeccable standards, though having to ask colleagues to stand in for him more frequently in recent times.
  “He was a warrior,” Clarke said. The announcer revealed that in one of their last meetings, Johnson had presented him with a hard-drive containing the history of calypso in the Caribbean dating from the 1930s to the 1980s, with the instruction, “You would know what to do with this” as he passed the proverbial torch.
  Fellow moderator Peter Wickham was also saddened.
  “This was shocking. DJ was not an accidental calling,” he said, referring to Johnson’s most popular nickname. “His knowledge of Caribbean music was unmatched. His voice was unique, and his accent was undetectable,” he said as moderator of yesterday’s programme.
  “I will miss that fatherly hand. He was one of the best in his field. His politics, like his accent, was also undetectable. He understood with ease the politics of Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and Grenada.
  “I had noticed from last week, that he was not his usual self,” Wickham
  also admitted.
  Starcom’s Head of News, Stetson Babb, was also taken aback.
  “Evening though we all knew Dennis was ill and got worse from time to time, his passing has still come as a shock. Although he battled challenges, his determination remained strong, his intellect sharp, his mind still focused every day on our standards and the responsibility to our listeners to deliver broadcasting of the highest quality.
  “I approached him relatively recently and asked him to be the voice of our news major, the
  Evening Edition, which I felt could benefit from his gravitas. On a few occasions I noticed during those presentations that his voice and his usually impeccable diction sometimes wavered. Yet I never felt the end could be so near. Dennis was a great talent whose light has gone out but whose broadcasting legacy will continue to shine in our hearts and minds,” Babb said.
  Chief executive officer of the National Cultural Foundation, Carol Roberts, worked with Johnson on two separate occasions, and though competing against each other on different radio stations for a time, had developed a great friendship, she revealed during an on-air tribute yesterday.
  “A good man gone. A real good man. We had each other’s backs. I knew this time would come. He was a good friend. We worked in an industry that pit us together, but regardless of how that happened, we had a certain chemistry,” she said, holding back tears while noting that Johnson was particularly brilliant on outside broadcasts.
  Political scientist Dr Kristina Hinds, one of the newer moderators to Down to Brasstacks, said yesterday was a very hard day for her, despite only knowing Johnson for a little over a year.
  “I’m grateful to have formed that friendship in the last year,” she said. He encouraged me, and we became really good friends. He took more time out to work with me because I was not a broadcaster. I thank him for everything.”
  Dr Allyson Leacock, chairman of the Broadcasting Authority, who also worked with Johnson, said she considered him one of the greatest broadcasters of his generation, and noted his relentless pursuit of perfection in every project he was involved in during his lengthy career on radio.

  Source: Nation

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• David

  November 18, 2021 7:36 AM

  

  Watermelon farmer loses all to thieves

  by COLVILLE MOUNSEY colvillemounsey@nationnews.com
  A ST LUCY FARMER has been left with a $25 000 loss after thieves wiped out his entire one-acre plot of watermelons.
  Chief executive officer of the Barbados Agricultural Association (BAS), James Paul, told the DAILY NATION yesterday that the act of praedial larceny occurred Tuesday night.
  He added that with watermelons in short supply and fetching between $1.50 and $3 per pound, this was a massive loss to the farmer, who he did not name.
  Paul said the thieves likely timed their crime for the full moon, so they did not need artificial lights which could have increased their risk of being caught. He added the matter has been reported to police who are investigating.
  “These thieves stole every single last one of those watermelons. This is a small farmer who only had an acre of land, but he would have gleaned approximately 15 000 pounds of watermelons out of that field. Farmers are deeply concerned because they understand that these are times that their produce is likely to fetch good prices at the market. In this week especially, watermelons would not have been as available as they should be,” he said.
  “Out of that field, if you look at the market value, you are looking at a massive loss of $25 000 in one go. This particular small farmer would have been relying on that crop to pay his bills and now he has been put at a significant disadvantage as a result of these thugs and thieves. These criminals took advantage of the moonlight. I can tell you that up to yesterday evening when the farmer left his field, those watermelons were all accounted for.”
  He warned that given the short supply of the crop on the market, anyone popping up with watermelons must be viewed with suspicion. He called on the public to be vigilant, as the thieves would have no choice but to try and offload the watermelons on the market this week, given the sheer quantity
  and short shelf life.
  “I am asking that persons and supermarkets who are purchasing watermelons from persons at this time to take particular pains to make sure that those persons can prove where they got those watermelons from. They cannot be prepared to just buy watermelons from strangers who may have obtained them under dubious circumstances.
  “We are talking about 15 000 pounds of watermelons; they got to appear somewhere. Even for those persons who buy watermelons on the highway, they have got to watch that carefully because you would know that the prices were pretty strong this week and last week. Anybody who comes to sell anyone watermelons needs to be viewed with suspicion and I say this without any apology.”

  Source: Nation

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• Cuhdear Bajan

  November 26, 2021 11:40 PM

  

  I’ve grated the pumpkin, sweet potato and coconut. I’ve bought the cornflour, butter and raisins. I have some sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg on hand. The banana leaves are ready.

  So whether November 30th is Independence Day or Republic Day, for me it will be as usual conkie making day. Shall I make 50, 100, 150, 200? Who knows.

  And “no” I won’t put eggs or milk in my conkies. To do such is an abomination.

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• Sargeant

  November 27, 2021 10:24 AM

  

  @David
  Is there something missing from this story? Yuh can’t steal 15,000 lbs of watermelon with a knapsack, the thieves must have been armed with a truck or two and that would mean they would be easily detectable if people cared.

  Here’s the genius Herbie Hancock explaining how he arrived at the seminal hit “Watermelon Man”

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• David

  November 27, 2021 10:34 AM

  

  @Sargeant

  There is a racket, known to all and sundry.

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• Donna

  November 27, 2021 10:50 AM

  

  If you know they use the moonlight you should set up watch on the moonlight nights when your crop is about ready. You don’t have any fellow farmers who would watch with you?

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• Donna

  November 27, 2021 12:09 PM

  

  Got some much needed rain yesterday and the day before.

  Plants looking good now.

  Bought a small greenhouse to grow seedlings. Numerous different seeds hatched almost immediately and looking like they came from a plant nursery.

  I am more determined to buy a bigger one now for the troublesome plants.

  Next project is the drip irrigation system.

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• Dame Bajans

  November 29, 2021 11:48 AM

  

  I brought up last years pumpkins. I had four left. I cut one last night and had some with breadfruit, cassava, brussel sprouts and bok choi all cooked in some ham water which I boiled in the morning. It was not dried out and was still sweet. Today, I will be grating it for conkies tomorrow. The coconut and leaves are in the freezer as well as the butter. when I move my ass, I will be going downstairs and bringing them up to thaw. Don’t know how many I will make. Depend on how good the banana leaves are. If any mixture left over, I will stick it in a pan, bake it and call it corn pone.
  I made lo mai gai last week, so my two steamers are upstairs already. That is chinese sticky rice, stuffed with chicken, sausage, bacon, salted duck’ s egg yolk, wrapped in lotus leaves and steamed for two hours. Retirement is so much fun. All the time on your hands in winter when there is no gardening to spend in the kitchen.

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• David

  November 29, 2021 11:50 AM

  

  @Dame

  You made cookies this year?

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• Dame Bajans

  November 29, 2021 11:57 AM

  

  “Next project is the drip irrigation system.”

  Good idea, you can use the rain water from your tanks.

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• Dame Bajans

  November 29, 2021 12:32 PM

  

  @David;

  I make conkies every year. I will be making mine tomorrow. I make for my son, my little sister and my Chinese friend. I give two to the lady down the street who looks after the place when I am travelling and two to a Scottish friend down the other end of the street. If I am in a good mood, I give two to a Guyanese friend who is a ‘boss liar’ but have a good heart. (I try not to judge but I never repeat anything she tells me.)

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• David

  November 29, 2021 12:36 PM

  

  Good stuff Bajan. A reminder a conkie is not a conkie without raisins.

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• Cuhdear Bajan

  November 30, 2021 10:15 AM

  

  An hour ago I took my grated pumpkin, coconut and sweet potato from the freezer. I should have taken them out last night but after going to the fireworks at Checker Hall I was too tired/too sleepy and forgot. I will begin making them in a hour or so. Will give Little Susie and the grands who are here right now a conkie making lesson.

  Yes. I will add raisins to about half of them. The grands don’t like raisins, but I do.

  P.S. A cousin grew the pumpkin, I grew the sweet potatoes, a friend grew the coconut. Since I typically make them only about once per year I CHOOSE to grate by hand.

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• Cuhdear Bajan

  November 30, 2021 10:18 AM

  

  @Dame Bajans November 29, 2021 11:48 AM “Retirement is so much fun. ”

  I second that.

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• Cuhdear Bajan

  November 30, 2021 10:25 AM

  

  Making some fishcakes for the youth now, then conkies, so see wunna tonight.

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• Donna

  November 30, 2021 11:26 AM

  

  I my closest friends sell all the Barbadian delicacies including local juices and I tend to support them. Every time I intend to make my own somebody asks, “The usual?”

  This year I’m already booked to purchase Christmas lunch as well with all the traditional goodies except jug jug. I think I’ll try making that.

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• Dame+Bajans

  November 30, 2021 8:15 PM

  

  I finished making my conkies this afternoon. made a batch this morning, went for a shingles shot and came back and made the second batch. Boy they tasted so good. Had one when they were still hot. Delicious. My friend came by and I gave him one with his beer, he loved it so much he asked for and took home three.

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• Dame+Bajans

  November 30, 2021 8:19 PM

  

  If I am hosting the family I have my Xmas dinner catered by one of the major hotels. It is no fun cooking all day, labouring over hot stove and hotter oven then to lose your appetite and be so tired you dont enjoy the evening. Dont tell them to bring something. One will bring a salad, another a sheet of pone and another some sorrel, leaving me all the hardwork.

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• David

  December 16, 2021 5:27 AM

  

  This is sacrilegious during difficult times, perpetuated by a civilized society.

  Dog attack costs farmer $15 000

  by TRE GREAVES
  tregreaves@nationnews.com
  ARLEIGH JAMES SOBBED yesterday after a near-death experience with a pack of dogs.
  The 64-year-old farmer’s life, however, was not his first concern. He was more distraught that the three dogs killed more than 30 Blackbelly sheep – many of which were pregnant or had recently given birth – and seriously injured 15.
  He estimated that the killing spree, which occurred at Society Plantation in St John around 11 on Tuesday night, cost $15 000.
  During an emotional interview, James, the caretaker at the plantation, pointed to the dead sheep, stacked one on the other. Some of them were gutted or had their throats cut.
  There were also blood trails and a broken fence, which he said the vicious bull terrier and two pit bulls crashed through just to get to the sheep.
  James, who was staying at the plantation, said he was first alerted by his puppy who was barking to warn him about the intruders. He then armed himself with a stick and tried to intervene. “I have a puppy that started to make noise and she ran to the gate barking and that’s when I heard the rattling. When I got here, I thought it was only one dog, the [bull terrier]. This dog was so massive that it hit the gate and lick it right off and bore through a fence when I chased him away,” he said.
  Scene was worse
  Believing the danger was gone, and having no credit on his cellphone, James went home to nearby Massiah Street to call his manager. However, when he returned, the scene was worse than when he left.
  “When I come back here that is when they really attack the sheep,” he said.
  While recalling the horrific sight, James cried as he said many of the lambs were unlikely to make it.
  “This is four years I worked here with these animals and I never had a problem. I could’ve died in that sheep pen and somebody would’ve come and find me in there because I just wanted to see the sheep alive.
  “It’s just like I lost my entire family, how I could deal with these? They are between two to three weeks old and I will lose a lot of them because I can’t give them all milk,” he said as the tears streamed down his face.
  He was visited by chief executive officer at the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS), James Paul, who condemned the attack.
  Paul said more must be done to protect farmers or to help them be compensated.
  “I know they called the
  police and I hope they can do some investigation and find the owners. Because I really think it is about time that you give people permission [to shoot] dogs coming on their property [that] they don’t know . . . . Get rid of them!
  “Because when you lose animals there are no owners to compensate you and this is completely unsatisfactory at a time when we are asking farmers to produce and grow more,” Paul said.
  He also said he believed there might be a need for people who provide credible information about such matters to be compensated.
  “I think the ministry should have a rewards system, where people can offer information on what has happened. I don’t think they should feel any way about having an award of about $4 000 because you don’t know the damage those dogs could have caused in other places,” Paul added.

  
  Source: Nation

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• David

  December 16, 2021 5:27 AM

  

  Dogs definitely not strays, says inspector

  by HEATHER-LYNN EVANSON
  heatherlynevanson@nationnews.com
  IT IS highly unlikely that the dogs that mauled and killed dozens of sheep at Society Plantation were stray dogs, said the island’s lone animal inspector, the Barbados RSPCA’s Wayne Norville.
  It is more likely, he stressed, that they were homeowners’ guard dogs that went straying.
  In addition, he said incidents like that resulted from a lack of responsible dog ownership and the policing of dog licensing.
  “This is the problem we have been having for years because we don’t have proper policing of the licensing in Barbados,” Norville said.
  “And if you check the size of the dogs that come into the (RSPCA) clinic, these dogs are massive and heavy. People’s dogs need to be licensed and people need to be responsible for things like this,” he said.
  Lambs will die
  Norville’s comments came after the caretaker at Society Plantation, Arleigh James, reported that a pack of dogs had killed 30 of the plantation’s sheep, many of which were pregnant, and left another 15 close to death or injured in an attack that occurred sometime during the night. He said the dogs appeared to be pit bulls or bull terriers and predicted a number of lambs would also die because they had lost their mothers in the attack. Norville, who has 50 years of working with and rescuing animals in Barbados, declared that the dogs that attacked the farm’s flock were definitely not stray dogs.
  “A stray dog can’t pull down a sheep,” Norville said.
  “These have to be people’s dogs that packed at night. They get out and by the time they [the owners] wake up in the morning,
  the dogs are back home and their mouths licked clean and everything and no blood on it,” he noted.
  The inspector explained the difference in attacks can be seen in the nature of the injuries.
  “When you check sheep that have been bitten by straying dogs, you might miss an ear . . . [or] a nipple or testicle because that is when the animal is running,” he said.
  “For those dogs, straying dogs, that is more a chase, that is when the sheep is running and they run behind them. You might find the back being bitten up or, if it is a sheep that is tied, you would find an ear or the face bitten because the sheep would try to butt at them because it can’t run.
  Missing body parts
  “But if you check those sheep you wouldn’t find any body parts missing because they weren’t hungry because a straying dog is somebody’s dog who is allowed to stray,” Norville said.
  “And a stray dog, as I said, can’t pull down a sheep. A stray dog is one that does not have an owner period. So you might see a stray dog after the big strong dog has actually killed the sheep,” he added.

  Source: Nation

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• Donna

  December 16, 2021 7:51 AM

  

  A few weeks ago I had a showdown with a neighbour who has a vicious dog and another slightly more sensible dog behind a flimsy fence that makes many people afraid to pass.

  He quite rightly said that he was within the law and pointed out that his dogs were behind a fence and were also licenced. I pointed out that the issue was the flimsiness of the fence.

  Whenever you pass one dog in particular races up to the fence which is just a couple of metres from the road, barking ferociously as though he would love to tear you for threads. The other dog joins in but not as ferociously. I usually walk with my son’s martial arts bamboo. Still, my heart skips a beat whenever I pass and I always check for lifting of the fence. So far the lift is not enough for the huge dog to get under. He is apparently not smart enough to dig under the fence as some dogs do.

  That afternoon I grew frustrated and after checking the fence, I decided to stand in the road and let the dog bark himself to death. And so it was that after 20 minutes time, within which the dog’s non-stop barking had cause him great distress the owner ran outside telling ME that if I had caused his dog to bark himself to death then I would have had to replace his EXPENSIVE dog.

  So apparently, he has the absolute right to keep a vicious dog behind a flimsy fence once it is on his property but I, a taxpayer, had no right to simply stand in the street outside his house.

  He, a boy half my age, and a recent addition to the neighbourhood felt that he had the right to tell me that I come AT HIM to “tease” his dog and should go back where I came from. Where I came from is a place that a good cricketer could probably hit with a cricket ball!

  So… when I informed him of my rights and that I was sorry the dog was still standing, he thought it smart to threaten to let the dogs out and pay “the few hundred dollars” in fines for the expected attack.

  Of course the Mad Woman looked for a nice flat and easy to grip but heavy rock and instructed him that she was ready.

  Eventually he relented, shut to RH up, said he en business wid me nuh more and took his dogs to tie them in the back.

  My parting shot was, ” You did last what you should have done first. And futhermore he should take the few hundred dollars he was expecting to pay for my mauling and pay to train the dog to let passersby pass in peace and to install a better fence.

  Many dog owners in Barbados are not responsible and the laws are not strict enough to make them so.

  P.S. The medium sized friendly puppy who strayed unto my property remains unlicenced because I could get no answer at the Six Rds Polyclinic and now my father tells me that payments are only being accepted at BLACK ROCK.

  I am not paying a taxi $140 to Black Rock and back to pay the Government $5 for a dog I saved from the street.

  Madness!

  LikeLike
• Hants

  December 23, 2021 11:22 AM

  

  Blue economy brown.

  https://barbadostoday.bb/2021/12/23/fish-a-rarity-this-season-fisherfolk-say/

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• Hants

  December 23, 2021 12:59 PM

  

  I buy dolphin from Costco in Toronto. ( imported from Ecuador )

  https://cfi-la.org/en/experiences/1/mahi-mahi

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• pat oliver

  December 24, 2021 9:29 PM

  

  @Hants.
  Me too. I bought it last week @ $17.99 for a kilo. Had some tonight and have a steak for breakfast tomorrow.

  LikeLike
• Dame+Bajans

  December 25, 2021 1:30 PM

  

  Merry Christmas to all the people who visit this corner. Watch the calories today. Moderation, moderation, moderation.

  LikeLiked by 1 person
• Cuhdear Bajan

  December 27, 2021 10:32 PM

  

  Oopppss!!! too late. But today I spent a couple of hours in the field working it off and will do so again on Wednesday and Friday.

  LikeLike
• David

  January 11, 2022 4:18 AM

  

  Food security a neglected issue

  Tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.
  – Malcolm X THE WORLD’S POPULATION of about 7.9 billion is increasing by 81 million every year and its food consumption is increasing by 1.1 per cent per annum. Concurrently, the world’s food supply is beginning to have difficulty in meeting demand as cultivable land the world over is being changed in use for “development” and there is little left to be exploited.
  In the meantime, extreme weather events and natural disasters have been affecting food production across our planet. Concurrently, the global pandemic and its accompanying economic lockdowns have disrupted global food supply chains to the point that some food reserves are at alarmingly low levels, while average food prices have climbed to 30 per cent above normal.
  As a consequence, the United Nations is warning that the world could be facing a serious hunger crisis among the poor, and conditions are likely to get even worse in 2022. Already nearly 20 per cent of the world’s population (or about 1.5 billion people) are experiencing hunger.
  Those with an understanding of the situation have been expressing their concern about the global trends that indicate we are heading towards more widespread global hunger.
  A recent article published by Nikkei Asia revealed that the Chinese government has been hoarding food on an unprecedented scale. All over the country, government officials were issuing stockpiling orders for grains and other food supplies and the amount of food that they were stockpiling was massive – a policy that has helped to drive food prices even higher.
  New data released by the United States Department of Agriculture revealed that China was about to have 69 per cent of the globe’s maize reserves by the end of the first half of the crop year 2022, as well as 60 per cent of its rice reserves, and 51 per cent of its wheat reserves.
  If things spiral out of control in 2022 or beyond, the Chinese government will still have enough food supplies in its reserves to feed its people – for a while. Unfortunately, the key to long-term food security is not in food stocks/ reserves, which have a limited shelf life anyway and can be costly, but in the ability to produce or obtain enough new supplies in a dwindling supply environment.
  The actions of the Chinese government, which created the pandemic in the first place, if only accidentally, should have been a wakeup call for those countries, like Barbados, which cannot feed themselves, but have been complacently ridding themselves of the vestiges of the past while failing to plan properly for the future, especially in its increasing commitments with such a selfish country.
  The world average cultivable land per capita is about 0.22 hectares (0.5 acres), which implies that it takes an average of about 0.22 hectares of cultivable land to feed each person on a regular annual basis. China cannot feed itself with an average of 0.09 hectares of cultivable land per capita and must import a significant portion of its food, hence its new aggressive and selfish approach to global diplomacy. Nor can India feed itself
  with an average of 0.14 hectares of cultivable land per capita. That is why Kashmir – India’s breadbasket – is so important to them.
  The US still has an average of 0.51 hectares of cultivable land per capita and is producing enough food surpluses to continuously feed itself twice over. At the same time, it is stupidly allowing the loss of about 800 hectares (2 000 acres) of good cultivable land every day in “development”. The US, which is already earning billions of dollars in food exports annually, will earn even more from the increased prices of its food surpluses in any coming food shortage.
  It is also in a position to ramp up production even further to meet some of the world’s increasing food consumption demand – yet their press and urban hordes treat their rural farmers and food producers with scant respect! No wonder those farmers and food producers voted “en bloc” for Donald Trump – like those in the United Kingdom had voted “en bloc” for BREXIT – while the great press has failed to recognise why.
  A Barbados Town and Country Planning Department Report, circa 2006, put Barbados’ cultivable land, that is, agricultural land for which change of use had not been granted, at about 16 000 hectares (40 000 acres), although it admitted that seven plantations had been subdivided into small farms which had become little more than upmarket housing schemes.
  The latest estimates for Barbados put our remaining cultivable land at less than 8 000 hectares (20 000 acres) which suggests that per capita it is less than 0.03 hectares (0.075 acres) or 14 per cent of the world average of 0.22 hectares. In other words, Barbados cannot feed itself and must import most of its food while it is “growing” solar farms on its agricultural land instead of its parking lots and rooftops.
  One of the crucial questions the electorate needs to put to the politicians who are begging for their vote in the coming election is: “What are you planning to do about the long-term food security situation of Barbados and why this has not yet been done?”
  There is a long-term solution, but no one seems interested. No politician currently campaigning has yet mentioned long-term food security and their response, or lack of one, to that question, should be most revealing. The tourists can go home – we are there already.
  Like the water in a sinkhole vortex, round and round we go!
  – PETER WEBSTER

  Source: Nation

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• Hants

  January 11, 2022 6:23 AM

  

  Future agriculture in Barbados could include greenhouses if cultivable land is not available.

  https://www.greenhousecanada.com/greenhouses-can-grow-lettuce-and-generate-solar-power-study/

  LikeLike
• Donna

  January 11, 2022 7:10 AM

  

  Blasted fools! That is why I grow my own. There is not a day that I don’t reap a few different vegetables. And it’s not even that hard.

  But one does not even need land to grow crops. Technology for agriculture is amazing these days.

  LikeLiked by 1 person
• Cuhdear Bajan

  January 12, 2022 10:27 PM

  

  I have been planting cassava and yellow sweet potatoes. We are still getting a little rain, mostly at nights or foreday morning.

  Still harvesting sweet potatoes, and peppers 4 different kinds, two hot and two sweet. Peppers seem to prefer the slightly cooler weather. The avocados are all gone. I picked the last few on December 19 just in time to add to the Christmas table. I will shortly have the tree trimmed before it starts to flower again in the northern spring.

  The neighbors are as usual being very kind. Over the past few days I have received gifts of mangoes, paw-paw, breadfruit and both green and yellow bananas.

  Life sweet.

  LikeLike
• David

  January 17, 2022 5:48 AM

  

  Proper’ returns

  Big Christmas, January sales for some pork producers
  DESPITE PRODUCTION CHALLENGES, some pork producers are reporting relatively good sales over the Christmas period.
  Yesterday, president of the Barbados Association of Pig Farmers, Henderson Williams, said that while he did not have records to hand at the time, business was better for Christmas last year than for the 2020 season.
  “We had good sales. There were some activities for Old Year’s and Christmas and we had a very good occupancy in the hotels so sales went very well,” he said. “They were up; definitely above what we saw for 2020. Now there is a consolidation of persons who would have brought their stock over from Christmas to January and here we are now heading into an election, so the sales for this month will not be the norm.
  “With the election, people are out and moving around, there is activity. All of that contributes to an increase in sales and volume so we are also going to have a pretty bumper January. The outlook so far for the first quarter of this year is very good,” Williams added.
  Vice-president of the Barbados Pig Farmers’ Co-operative Society, David Catlyn, said sales were “okay”.
  “I forecast that sales would be all right. I said back then (December) that about 50 of the 200 farmers would have halted operations because of overwhelming expenses. But we were able to meet our demands so generally things went okay. I would say we had a reasonable Christmas period,” he told the
  DAILY NATION.
  Rising costs
  Livestock farmers are undergoing production issues associated with rising input prices, most notably feed.
  Last November, Pinnacle Feeds, the island’s lone feed supplier, announced that Government’s temporary price support had ended and from December 1, the price of feed would be increased by an average of 3.7 per cent.
  In September, Pinnacle reduced its 19 per cent increase on feed to 11 per cent after Government agreed to inject another $2 million into a price support system, which initially ran from May to July. The latest support extended it by another three months.
  (SB)

  Source: Nation

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• David

  January 18, 2022 6:23 AM

  

  B’dos can net $15m from fish
  by SHAWN CUMBERBATCH shawncumberbatch@nationnews.com
  EXPERTS HAVE PRODUCED a new fisheries strategy that they believe will, if implemented, help Barbados’ fishing industry to scale new heights.
  This includes the generation of an additional $15 million in revenue over the next seven years from large pelagic longline fishery after expenditure of $2.4 million.
  Pelagic fish are those which typically inhabit waters below the continental shelf in the ocean and include large species such as swordfish, tuna, mackerel and sharks.
  The potential increased earnings via this category of fishing are outlined in the new report titled Oceans Economy And Trade Strategy: Barbados’ Large Pelagic Longline Fishery.
  The strategy was produced by Brad Gentner, of Gentner Consulting Group, LLC in Arizona, United States, with “significant support” from fisheries expert Keith Flett, manager and co-founder of One Skip Development, a fisheries development company in Seattle, Washington, US.
  Gentner, an economist, said the major findings of the report included that “the large pelagic longline fishery of Barbados offers a unique opportunity”.
  “There is significant potential to transition the fishery to produce a fresh loin product; and use sustainability criteria and traceability to improve market access and tuna sales prices, while improving sustainable fisheries management,” he said.
  “The implementation plan involves adding more value to tunas in Barbados by producing loins for export, rather than headed and gutted product. This ensures that more value is retained in Barbados for the benefit of local stakeholders.”
  He added: “Access to market could be improved by installing an electronic method of recording landings. Such a system would enable product traceability. Electronic data collection would also directly improve monitoring, control and surveillance of the large pelagic longline fishery, which would facilitate compliance with rules and regulations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).”
  Benchmarks
  Gentner recommended that Barbados “enters a comprehensive fishery improvement plan (C-FIP), which will set sustainability benchmarks that are independently audited”.
  “A C-FIP increases market access, improves local management and enhances ICCAT compliance, all of which are important for Barbados to maintain favourable ICCAT country quotas and advocate for future quotas,” he said.
  The fisheries expert proposed the following high-level interventions: 1. Engage stakeholders to seek buyin and define an implementation plan.
  2. Design an electronic landings and export data system aligned with current and future Government regulations.
  3. Structure a public-private partnership (PPP) for new fish handling processes and profit distribution.
  4. Enter fishery into a C-FIP. a. Conduct C-FIP pre-assessment. b. Develop C-FIP work plan. 5. Invest in PPP and build a loining facility. 6. Develop markets for loined product and move loins to market.
  7. Take action on legislative and fishery management recommendations in a C-FIP work plan.
  8. Assess fishery progress biannually to ensure targets are met.
  Gentner’s assessment was that once these eight recommendations were implemented, they could “increase the gross revenue generated by Barbados’ large pelagic longline fishery over the next seven years by $15 million, or an average additional revenue of $2.2 million per year.
  “This translates to a $5 million increase in revenue for fishers over the seven-year projection period, an average of $700 542 in additional revenue each year for all fishers,” he said.
  “While at the time of reporting, records of the total number of trips and number of active vessels were not accessible, if this revenue increase was spread equally across the entire fleet of 47 boats, it would increase the revenue of every vessel by $15 000 per year.”
  Extra trips
  He added: “Putting that into perspective, $15 000 per year of additional revenue per vessel is equivalent to the profits of nearly five extra fishing trips per year.
  “Finally, the cash flow analysis replaces the $0.090 per pound landings tax with a $0.090 per pound tax on exported loins. This change would increase tax revenue over the seven-year period by $845 730, or on average, $121 000 per year.”
  The strategy report calculated that “to achieve the projected increase in revenue will require expenditure of $2.4 million, including $380 000 for structuring, $1.92 million for implementation and $40 000 for maintenance of the initiative”.
  It was suggested that the funding required for the strategy’s implementation could be made up of $960 000 in grants, $490 000 in loans and $990 000 in investments.
  Gentner said the revenue projections developed within the report were not predicated on increasing harvests but value derived by increasing quality, improving market access and increasing in-country value-add, coupled with electronic traceability and order routing.
  The new fisheries strategy is the output of Barbados’ participation in The Oceans Economy and Trade Strategy (OETS) project. This initiative is funded by the United Nations Development Account and implemented by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in cooperation with the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea of the Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations.
  The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations funded part of the consultancy for the preparation of this report and co-sponsored and supported certain project activities related to the Barbados component of the OETS project.
  (From this week’s BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY.)

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• Donna

  January 18, 2022 7:35 AM

  

  I guess every little bit helps.

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