Possible insurance scheme for poultry industry

Barbados' Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Barbados Egg and Poultry Producers Association (BEPPA) are discussing the idea.

Agriculture Minister Erskine Griffith said the scheme would help farmers to recover more quickly in the event of an outbreak of avian influenza or some other disease.

Minister Griffith was speaking to the media following the opening ceremony of the National Agricultural Consultation.

The minister also revealed that a talking point today will also be the possibility of establishing a poultry board.

“We need to make sure that the entire industry is covered and that the small, medium and large producers can work together so that everyone would benefit,” he said.

Moments earlier, commenting on the future of the agricultural sector, he told those gathered for the consultation, that the focus needs to be on modernising the sector in order to not only stay current, but competitive.

“In this rapidly changing international environment it has become necessary for us to do everything within our power to modernise the agricultural sector with two major objectives in mind. First, ensuring our food security, and secondly and very importantly, putting the sector to the point where it can compete in spite of the unfriendly international environment in which we live.

“We are not going to improve the competitiveness of the sector by simply talking ... the only way we are going to be able to compete in this international environment is if we make use of all available technology to improve our productivity, keep our costs down and expand our production levels,” he maintained.