The agriculture conundrum

IN CONTEMPLATING the future of agriculture, the basic question to be asked is what kind and size of agriculture is reasonably possible in the country today, what mix of resources would be required to be engaged for this purpose and what demand, whether local or foreign, is it aimed at meeting.

The simplistic proposal of just giving land to the people and allowing them to produce at their discretion is not an option. There needs to be a more rational and scientific basis for land distribution which should be subject to soil survey and assessment of suitability for various crops or other agricultural purposes. Road access is of course necessary and so too is the availability of water for irrigation purposes.

For years we have discussed but to no avail proposals for the construction of catchment dams and ponds for the storage of water for irrigation and other purposes. In addition, there should be the availability of support services to advise on up-to-date methods of cultivation, high-yielding varieties and disease and pest control facilities.

Size of plot is a significant consideration in what is to be produced.

Smaller plots of two-acre size render them suitable for the cultivation of small crops.

However, cultivation of tree crops would require plots of approximately 50 acres to be viable whereas animal rearing would need a minimum of 30 acres.

In Caroni (1975) Ltd’s retrenchment programme, the authorities failed to anticipate the possible consequences of the two-acre plot distribution. If the estimated 7,000 two-acre plots were actually distributed and put under cultivation, it would almost totally have been focused on small crops. Thus, with 14,000 additional acres under small crops the total output would have overwhelmed the market for such crops and prices would have collapsed to below cost of production.

It is just another illustration of a seriously flawed decision.

The people to whom land is earmarked for distribution should be carefully selected and given a lease with the requirement that the land remain in agriculture. They should display a track record in agriculture or potential and willingness to get involved in it.

It would be an error to allot plots to people who have been employees all their lives and who have been dependent on wage incomes without any responsibility for managing production or catering to markets.

A farmer, however, is a small businessman. He or she needs to plan production, to ensure the availability of inputs, to reap, store and package outputs and relay to market and have an eye on price movements and its effect on profitability.

He or she is a risk-taker.

To attempt to convert someone with an employee mentality into a self-motivated farmer is an extremely difficult task. Hence, we have the spectacle of the vast majority of Caroni (1975) Ltd’s retrenched employees who received their two-acre plots having abandoned them.

Thus far, we have merely discussed basic requirements for the production of run-of-the-mill crops. However, in order to produce new or hybrid varieties to offer to the local or niche foreign markets, there is need for a great deal of research and experimentation.

This requirement applies whether it is fruit, vegetable or root crops.

On the issue of local meat supply, the foremost question must be what options, if any, are available to reduce the level of foreign inputs into the production of poultry or farm animals. An increase in the availability of fish can only come from inshore fish farming and a robust aquaculture programme.

The main criterion for contribution to the diversification effort is deemed to be the earnings of foreign exchange through export or the conservation of foreign exchange through import substitution.

It is left to be seen how impressive will be the performance of the agricultural sector on this basis.