ADPIU donates $731,833 to farmers

The Agricultural Diversification Programme Implementation Unit (ADPIU) donated $731,833 to farmers and farming organisations last Monday at the Methodist Church Hall. The donations were made to assist specific approved enterprises or investments, which met project criteria.

The Project, which is funded by the European Union, commenced in 2003 and is executed through the ADPIU in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.{{more}}

This country’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Minister, Montgomery Daniel was present at the ceremony and he said that in 2001, when the ULP administration came into power, the overall contribution of Agriculture to the GDP was on a steady decline. He said immediately his government acknowledged the situation and took the initiative to establish the ADPIU.

The minister urged farmers to take the project seriously, “We need to modernise our Agriculture, we cannot continue to produce agriculture commodities under the same conditions that we have been doing over the past years,” stated the Minister.

He strongly urged the Diversification Unit and the Ministry of Agriculture to immediately look into rabbit production. He said that we have to be prepared for the worst since there is always the lurking threat of the Avian Bird Flu. He said in the event of the Flu hitting these shores, then those who are involved in poultry alone will certainly be at a great loss, but those who take up the mantle of pig and rabbit production will be the “Kings and Queens of that day.”

Some of the project areas that received assistance were Marketing Research, Agro Processing Industry, Institutional Capacity Building and Technology Improvement.