What seemed to start out as a waste transfer station at Vaucluse in St Thomas, set up to feed the land fill at Greenland, has now become the Sustainable Barbados Recycling Centre Inc which was opened in early June this year. According to media reports, the Centre includes a transfer station, materials recovery and composting facilities as well as a chemical waste storage plant, and is set to become the new solid waste management nucleus for Barbados. Continue reading →

In our quest to achieve food security, we should be looking, not only at replacing crops that are presently imported, but also at crops that used to be grown here but are hardly seen nowadays. We should also be considering crops that are grown elsewhere in the tropics but are not common in Barbados. Continue reading →

Information is important to all aspects of life. With the new technologies now available, dissemination of information in a user-friendly way has been greatly facilitated. In spite of this, the general public including the agricultural community, often lack the information they need to make sensible decisions. Continue reading →

In a previous two-part article we highlighted the fact that not many students are choosing agriculture as a career option and agricultural institutions are not attracting the “cream of the crop”. Continue reading →

We would like to commend the Minister on sprucing up the entrance to the Ministry of Agriculture’s offices at Graeme Hall by replacing the well worn signage. At least the new signs inform the public that there is in fact a Ministry of Agriculture and also project a positive image, but unfortunately image is not enough. It must be supported by effective action in the interest of the agricultural industry and of the country in general. Continue reading →

The BSTA celebrated its 70th anniversary this year. During the year the Society addressed a number of issues relevant to the agricultural sector. Continue reading →

When one hears supposedly well educated people raising questions like “Agriculture is dead isn’t it?”, it makes one realize that more effective communication with the public is necessary if the local agricultural industry is to be treated with the respect that it deserves. It is a major contributor to the local economy from the point of view of use of our precious natural resource “arable land”, food security, foreign exchange savings and earnings, as well as protection of the environment. Continue reading →