BVI should produce staple crops, says CTL Managing Director
Managing Director of Clarence Thomas Limited (CTL), Michael Thomas, has called on the government to support local food production by investing in greenhouse farming for staple crops.
In a recent interview on ZBVI radio, Thomas said the BVI should rely less on the United States for food imports and start producing more items locally. He said the impact of new US tariffs and the lessons from recent disasters like Hurricane Maria and the COVID-19 pandemic show that the territory needs to be more self-reliant.
“What I would suggest also to, you know, Honourable [Omar] Hodge… I think he had the right idea with the greenhouses of Paraquita Bay. But I think we need to start producing some staple crops in the islands, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, you know, find 10 or 15 crops that we can produce in a greenhouse setting and produce as much as you possibly can here locally,” Thomas stated.
He encouraged the government to create jobs for locals by growing crops at home and putting the produce back into the marketplace. Thomas said this move would help reduce the territory’s dependence on imports, especially during emergencies.
“If Hurricane Maria and the pandemic taught us nothing, it’s that we’re kind of like on our own out here. America will protect America and they have every right to do so, as we should be protecting ourselves on this level,” he asserted.
Thomas also spoke about a failed shipment of face masks during the pandemic. “I had about $30,000 in face masks ordered… and they cancelled every order and wouldn’t ship anything out of the US,” he explained.
He added that the BVI should strengthen ties with Caribbean neighbours to boost food security. “We should be pulling more product, produce, you know, food, you know, beef, pork, what have you, whatever we can produce locally. We need to start sourcing it through the Caribbean and start utilising our Caribbean neighbours more,” he stated.
While Thomas said he had not seen government leaders’ urgency in food security, he believed they were likely working on it. “I haven’t seen it, but I don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors… I’m sure Premier [Dr Natalio Wheatley] probably has his finger on the pulse of this,” he said.
He suggested that the territory has the resources and talent to grow its own food and protect itself in times of crisis.
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are doomed to repeat it. Example #1: South Sound clear cut reef destroying debacle on VG years ago. No greenhouses ever built but erosion and runoff destroyed one of the most pristine reefs in the BVI.
Michael you are smarter than this s**t! The BVI does NOT have the soil type nor the land mass to make farming by volume a possibility. What we should encourage are more schoolyard gardens, backyard gardens and support the farmers who are currently trying to ply their trade. To make it seem as if there’s this big opportunity to do mass farming is a farce. The only possibility is that of hydroponics and green houses, then we are talking some sense. Still, any move would need a serious government subvention to make sense.
The man said green houses
There are greenhouse operators in Canada providing vegetables in winter that are competitive with field grown crops from the southern US and Mexico. It can be done but I understand that it relies on a large dense market to work well. The BVI lacks that big market but on the other hand costs to import here must also be high. Perhaps the BVI could scale up and serve markets in the nearby Caribbean as well. Anegada has lots of flat land. Worth looking at.
There are greenhouse operators in Canada.
The BVI does not need green house. Green houses raise the temperature inside. Green houses use green house gasses make a hot micro climate.
That is absurd: If Israel is food sufficient from sitting on a desert the BVI can more than sustain food sufficiency. The technology and science is existent to do that.
If we were serious this wouldn’t require so much talk imo. But a couple things I think are important.
Focus on 1 crop in 1 area. ie cassava,corn or plantain
Remove the Lion fish from our reefs.
Those 2 adjustments would produce great results imo.
What has been done to curb lion fish has been mostly done by the diving community and not the population at large. And it is pretty much an intractable problem to eradicate them.
We can use eminent domain and reclaim property for agricultural use. Drive out foreigners and reclaim our lands and then we will be able to grow crops
Don’t forget reliable infrastructure for irrigation, cheap labour from our local people willing to do the hard physical work (LOL), competitive prices with imported goods, a willingness of the current and future generation to learn the trade, etc.
You are dreaming, man! Never going to happen, because BVIslanders can’t get out of their own shadows!
LOL. Thanks so much for that good laugh out loud moment. It’s been a very frustrating day, so I needed the release. Eminent Domain? I’m surprised that’s a phrase people here know and could spell. Just so you know I’m not a foreigner, I’m just a descendent of BVI property owners who has had some experience with the local definition of eminent domain.
Cousin Thomas where the hell you were when we had a Premier here trying to train famers to grow weed and there’s not a vegetable in Paraquita Bay to eat.6. Something million spend up there for green house that yielded no result, I asked again, cousin Thomas where were you. From the time Paris church Clock was a watch the farmer has been crying out with no support from people like you. ALL YO know like bunch of cowards because of Donald Trumph. One BOMBA CLOTH man have ALL YA shaking in ALL YA BOOTS. COWARDS.
last time i bought a local chicken and placed it in vinegar all i saw was worms like dirt……
Greed mehson i cant trust yall
I been saying this when I was young the men of the island would go out fishing now everything is exported. No stable crops or farms on the island to produce regular needed produce BVI needs to build a foundation that will last so people don’t have to rely on other countries.