Pointing out that most of these farmers tended to plan their work around the Christmas season, which often led to a fall in pork supplies at various times in the year, The Barbados Advocate reports that Barbados Agricultural Society’s (BAS) Chief Executive Officer James Paul said that this group must fully utilise the opportunities available during the festival season.

He stressed that farmers must look at avoiding these declines, which often resulted in imports, stating, “One of the issues that we have to address besides bringing production up is that we have to ensure that we continue to have a market.“

Admitting “we are not happy with what is happening at the moment“ in terms of production, Paul stated that the way to tackle food prices was to increase supplies, adding that one such way was by increasing the number of animals on the ground.

Speaking during a press conference at the BAS headquarters, he said the industry was once again appealing to private sector stakeholders to assist it in terms of finding markets.

“We still have a predisposition in terms of meats to look outside. I do not believe that this is necessary – we have an excellent quality here,“ he added, remarking that what was necessary was for farmers and importers to meet, plan, and discuss any issues that they may be facing to ensure that the local market was being fully utilised.

“I would want to think that persons holding major engagements, that especially at a time when this economy is trying to conserve valuable foreign exchange that they can work out with farmers how they will increase the amount of locally produced meats that are being used by members of the public. The BAS is willing to facilitate that kind of approach on the part of anyone,“ he added.