Agricultural Services Division launches online platform for planting material

Yesterday (August 3^rd, 2022), the Agricultural Services Division (ASD) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries launched its ‘Grow Trinbago Website’. The online electronic catalogue will allow users to access information on a wide variety of commodities in a user friendly format and assist them in making informed decisions when it comes to the purchasing of planting material.

In delivering the feature address at the Ministry’s St. Augustine Nurseries at Farm Road in Curepe on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Senator the Honourable Kazim Hosein – Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Senator the Honourable Avinash Singh said that the website will provide persons with an “extra layer of information” as it seeks to apprise the public with relevant information in several areas. Among such data include: the availability of planting material available throughout the year and the soil type required for the best crop yields; the most suitable periods in which to grow and; how these respective planting material should be grown.

Minister Singh lauded the ASD for its initiative and further stated that the Division has “truly taken the bull of digitalisation by its horns and is now better equipped to carry a significant part of the Ministry’s services, directly to the stakeholders who require them.”

Also delivering remarks at the event was the Director (Ag.) of the Agricultural Services Division, Mr. Allan Balfour, who said that the website was conceptualised out of the State’s policy on promoting e-governance so as to increase efficiency of services to the national community. He said: “It is in this regard, that the ASD took the ambitious step towards the digitisation of sales –services of plating material via the Grow Trinbago Portal”. He further stated, that it was the Ministry’s expectation that this new process will overall improve customer service and by extension, enhance the efficiency of both the sales operations and product inventory systems at the Ministry’s plant propagation stations.

Present at the website launch were the: Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Senator the Honourable Nigel De Freitas; Acting Permanent Secretary (MALF), Ms. Coomarie Goolabsingh; Acting Deputy Permanent Secretary (MALF), Ms. Ramdai Sookdeo; Chief Technical Officer (MALF), Dr. Simone Titus; Agricultural Advisor to the Prime Minister, Dr. John Alleyne; Representative of the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA) in Trinidad and Tobago, Ms. Diana Francis and; Head of the Political & Economic Team at the British High Commission, Mr. John Dyson.

About the Grow Trinbago Website

The site (https://growtrinbago.agriculture.gov.tt/) will enable persons to browse (or download) products ranging from fruits, herbs and spices, ornamentals and grasses, root crops and vegetables in addition to a schedule outlining the products’ availability throughout the year. Added to this, the platform also features a host of agricultural publications as well as soil capability and pH maps. In due course, customers will be able to transact direct online purchasing of commodities of their choice.