Agriculture Ministry presents its operationalisation plans for the 2020 Fire Season!
February 20, 2020:- Recording the highest incidence of fires for 2019, the South Central Forest Conservancy of the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries (MALF), revealed that out of its seventy-seven (77) fires reported, the majority of these (29 reports) were malicious in nature with the remaining twenty-five (25) and twenty-three (23) cases being attributed to both unknown causes and agricultural burning, respectively. Cumulatively, these fires contributed to the loss of some 269.5 hectares of grasslands and 255 hectares of teak plantation.
Such were among some of the statistical data deduced by MALF’s Forester II (Fire Unit), Mr. Carlos Denoon, in his 2019 overview of the Forestry Division’s fire statistics during a presentation of the Ministry’s 2020 Fire Season Operationalisation Plan on Wednesday 19th February 2020, at the auditorium of the San Fernando Natural Landmark (San Fernando Hill).
The presentation – which was attended by the Deputy Conservator of Forests, Mr. Ameer Roopnarinesingh as well as representative staff from each of the six (6) conservancies of the Ministry’s Forestry Division (North West, North East, North Central, South West, South East and South Central) – involved the identification and assessment of the Ministry’s available resources (both human and equipment) and levels of preparedness within its conservancies with the overall aim of reducing the amount of unplanned wildfires and containing the spread of those that may occur in these areas.
In recognition of their role in mitigating the potentially disastrous effects of harsher dry seasons and extremes in weather conditions, Mr. Roopnarinesingh revealed that since the beginning of December 2019, the staff of the Forestry Division have been actively monitoring and recording fires “even on weekends and public holidays”, in order to respond effectively to the existence of any wildfire threats. He said: “Our staff will be present throughout the country in strategic areas to react as quickly as possible to any such occurrences and keep their impact as minimal as possible. The Forestry Division’s human and other resources will be placed in a state of high readiness to deal with any destructive wildfires come March 01 2020 to May 31 2020, a period identified to be the most conducive to fires and where physical patrols are to be more actively engaged.”
He noted too that the Forestry Division will continue to seek strategic collaborations with state agencies and other organizations, as well as embark on a series of educational and outreach initiatives this Fire Season with the view of fostering behavioural changes as it relates to the prevention and/or reduction in the incidence and spread of wildfires.
Also attending the presentation were the Deputy Director, Northern Range Reafforestation Programme (Ag.), Mr. Lutchman Ragoonanan and Assistant Conservator of Forests (Ag.), Mr. Andre Mohan
FIRE 1: Forestry Division Staff of the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, listen attentively during a presentation of the Ministry’s 2020 Fire Season Operationalisation Plan on Wednesday 19th February, 2020, at the auditorium of the San Fernando Natural Landmark (San Fernando Hill).
Lease Letters Distribution
Tuesday 18th February 2020: Senator the Honourable Clarence Rambharat, Minister of Agriculture, Land, and Fisheries, delivered the Feature Address at a Lease Letter Distribution Ceremony at the Corporate Headquarters of the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries (MALF) in Chaguanas.
The ceremony, which occurred earlier today, involved the distribution of Lease Letters to some fourteen (14) lease letter recipients throughout Trinidad.
These Letters – which convey Cabinet’s approval to grant standard agricultural leases for an initial period of thirty (30) years – will enable recipients to engage public agencies and institutions to conduct business in respect to their agricultural parcels.
Also present at today’s ceremony was Permanent Secretary (Ag.) Ms. Susan Shurland.
Another Lease Letter Distribution Ceremony takes place tomorrow – February 19th 2020 at North Eastern Corner, El Reposo, Sangre Grande
… at El Reposo, Sangre Grande
19th February 2020: Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Senator the Honourable Clarence Rambharat distributed Lease Letters to twenty-six (26) persons at the Ministry’s El Reposo Demonstration Centre, Sangre Grande. The Minister congratulated everyone and thanked them for their patience and for staying the course throughout this protracted period
Recipients came from Plum Mitan, Manzanilla, Brooklyn Settlement- Sangre Grande, Wallerfield, Cumuto, San Raphael and other areas in North East, Trinidad.
All the recipients at today’s event thanked the MALF for their efforts and said that they were extremely happy and more so relieved that the process is over. They added, that being in possession of these letters, will now enable them to put systems in place which will allow them to transact business in respect to their agricultural parcels.
Today’s Lease Letter Distribution Ceremony was the second hosted by the Ministry in the past two days; the first was at the MALF Head Office on Tuesday 18th February. On that occasion, fourteen (14) persons received Lease Letters
Media Release – Lease Letter Distribution
Water Management Open Day at MALF
7th February, 2020: The Extension Information Services (Division) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Land, and Fisheries (MALF) facilitated an Open Day Workshop to members of the public on Water Management for the Dry Season at the MALF Head Office, Chaguanas.
The unpredictability of rainfall, resulting in the conservation of water usage, gives us no choice but to put the necessary systems in place to mitigate the adverse effect on food production. For persons in the farming community especially, it is equally important to implement water conservation strategies to maintain production levels.
Today’s event was aimed primarily at assisting farmers in their preparation for the upcoming dry season, as participants were exposed to a variety of irrigation and water management systems. Persons without any farming experience would have also benefited from today’s exercise, as the information received would have been very conversant to everyone.
In addition to the various booth displays, there were presentations by Meteorological Services of Trinidad and Tobago, FT. Farfan and Company on Irrigation Systems, other presentations were also done on Water for Agriculture Incentives and Water Quality in Agriculture.
The ETIS Division partnered with several key stakeholders for the event, they included, Hi-Quality Seedlings Ltd., Trinitrac, Porter’s Agricultural Agencies Ltd, Carlsen Chemicals, Southern Chemicals, Agricultural Supplies Ltd., Caribbean Chemicals and the MALF – Engineering Division and Regional Administration North (RAN).
left to right, Permanent Secretary (Ag.) in the MALF, Ms. Susan Shurland share a conversation with ETIS Director, Ms. Wilhemina Kissoonsingh at the event.
ICA and T&T Small Businesses Reviews 2019 and Strategize and Plans for 2020
Port of Spain, 28 January 2020:
A group of micro and small businesses (AgriMSEs) met at the offices of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in Trinidad and Tobago, to reflect on the experiences and outcomes of IICA’s support in 2019 and to consider IICA’s plans for engagement in 2020.
Most of these AgriMSEs participated in promotion and marketing training, and would have also benefited from the product development and business networking provided in 2019, under the IICA International Trade and Regional Integration Program, at the headquarters of IICA in Costa Rica, with full support from the specialist on AgriBusiness and Value Chains for the Caribbean, Allister Glean, based in the IICA Representation in Saint Lucia.
During the session, IICA Representative to Trinidad and Tobago, Ms.Diana Francis, said that “while IICA is not a donor agency, through well-targeted technical cooperation resources and partnerships with key players, the organization have been able to leverage our human expertise and institutional positioning to provide tangible support to AgriMSEs”.
Contributions of key local collaborators were also acknowledged, such as ExporTT, Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI), and National Agricultural Marketing Development Corporation (NAMDEVCO), which complemented IICA’s technical expertise and provided access to facilities for business networking and training sessions.
Other recognized collaborator was the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers Association (TTMA), which enabled participation of 6 AgriMSEs in its annual flagship Trade and Investment Convention.
The AgriMSEs agreed that targeted and tangible support was preferred to generic training and information dissemination. They also confirmed that an important benefit from their engagement with IICA was the fostering and facilitating of more opportunities for mutually reinforcing business-to-business networking with each other.
Indeed, at least two (2) AgriMSEs expressed their obligation to ‘give back’, having benefited from development support from national entities, as well as IICA. An immediate ‘give-back,’ was the offer from House of Arendel, a chocolate products processor to include products from interested AgriMSEs as part of a retail arrangement negotiated with a high traffic establishment to market local agricultural products over the entire month of February 2020.
A similar offer was made to IICA by NAMDEVCO, to extend the use of its select high-traffic farmers’ market sites to host special Market Fairs dedicated to AgriMSEs, an offer which the AgriMSEs fully embraced. This is based on the observation by NAMDEVCO’s CEO, Mrs. Nirmalla Persad, applauded IICAs for creating additional value for AgriMSEs through tangible business opportunities and direct marketing, while simultaneously strengthening existing institutional ties.
About IICA
IICA is the specialized agency for agriculture in the Inter-American system, with a mission to encourage, promote and support its 34 Member States in their efforts to achieve agricultural development and rural well-being through international technical cooperation of excellence.
Agriculture Ministry provides Plant Quarantine training to staff
January 29, 2020:- Trinidad and Tobago, like any other country needs to be more self-sufficient when it comes to food and as such, the importation of plant-related pests and diseases undermines its ability to feed itself. These were the sentiments expressed by the Chief Technical Officer (Ag.) in the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Dr. Simone Titus, as she underscored the importance of a Plant Quarantine (PQ) Training Workshop which commenced on Wednesday 29th January, 2020, at the Ministry’s corporate headquarters in Chaguanas.
In her greetings at the commencement of the training, Dr. Titus highlighted both the need for teamwork within the discipline and the tremendous responsibility that came with safeguarding the overall health and well-being of the population at large. She also delivered remarks on behalf of the Permanent Secretary (Ag.), Ms. Susan Shurland, who said that the objective of the training was to expose staff to the basic principles and procedures of PQ in order to equip them to function as PQ Officers, should they be posted at any one of the nation’s ports of entry. The Permanent Secretary added, “The Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, through its PQ Service, provides the first line of defence in preventing the entry of pests into Trinidad and Tobago (pest surveillance). It protects T&T’s borders from the invasion of pests and diseases by issuing of import permits; inspecting import/export cargo and baggage at ports of entry, seizing import/export cargo and baggage and executing post-entry inspections.”
The two-day, interactive workshop will end tomorrow (Thursday 30th January, 2020) and the twelve (12) participating members of staff will be exposed to various procedures including, plant inspection and the overall inspection of plants and plant products for export. The training modules will be facilitated by the Deputy Director, Research Division (Crops), Ms. Deanne Ramroop; Entomologists (Ag.) – Mr. Amel Baksh and Mr. Rishi Mohansingh; Plant Pathologists (Ag.) – Mr. Kishore Ragbir and Ms. Julia Parris and; Agricultural Officer I (Ag.), Ms. Betty-Ann Soo Hon.
Also speaking at today’s opening session were the: Director, Research Division (Ag.), Ms. Albada Beekham and Senior Human Resource Officer (Ag.), Ms. Claris Kowlessar.
Chief Technical Officer (Ag.) in the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Dr. Simone Titus, delivers her remarks at the Plant Quarantine (PQ) Training Workshop on Wednesday 29th January, 2020, at the Ministry’s corporate headquarters in Chaguanas.
Staff of the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, interacting at the Plant Quarantine (PQ) Training Workshop on Wednesday 29th January, 2020, at the Ministry’s corporate headquarters in Chaguanas.
