Focus on increased production

A Minister of Agriculture today [now] has the task of dealing with issues of food safety, issues of health and wellness, significant trade matters, (and) issues of customs and tariffs (among others)” he said.

He was speaking at the opening opening ceremony of the first Caribbean Moringa Symposium and Festival at the at the UTT Waterloo Research Station, Waterloo, on Saturday.

The event was well attended by over 300 persons.

“What we should be focusing on is on that over which we have control, that we can produce competitively and we could increase the production and reduce that segment of the food import bill,” Rambharat said.

At the Moringa Symposium, Rambharat also asked the University of Trinidad and Tobago researchers for ‘a deeper consideration, not only of moringa, but a deeper consideration of traditional and non-traditional food sources which are available to us’.

He noted that ‘there are two areas that are wide open for the debate – they are Moringa as a health supplement and Moringa as a drug’.

The minister, who is also an attorney, provided a detailed analysis of the Food and Drug Bill in the context of the claims and advertising material promoting Moringa as an herbal medicinal product/ drug/medicine.

‘This Symposium will introduce the need for research [for traditional, herbal and complementary medicine].

Secondly, the issue of advertising claims and false claims [calls for urgent] regulation,’ he said.

Speakers at the event included, Professor Kenneth S. Julien (Emeritus), Chairman of the Board of Governors, UTT; Professor Dyer Narinesingh, President, UTT.