Agro-Invest has put 6,000 acres to work through leases

More than 6,000 acres of land have been leased for agricultural production in the country’s agro parks and production zones by the Agro-Investment Corporation.

According to figures supplied to the Financial Gleaner by Agro-Invest, more than 900 farmer-investors are involved in production on the prime agricultural properties, which are spread across several southern parishes.

The demographics indicate that the participants are mainly male, while 13 per cent of those involved in farming in the lands are female, and nine per cent are in the youth category. Nominally, there are about 927 investors-farmers across the agro parks and production zones: 802 are male, 125 female and 85 youth.

Agro-Invest, which is the national agribusiness promotion and facilitation agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, said it has leased 3,158.57 acres (1,278.26 hectares) in eight agro parks, as well as 2,630.51 acres (1,064.55 hectares) in 15 production zones.

At least one farm operator believes the process for acquiring the land could be quicker and more transparent.

Suedi-Ann Hamilton, co-owner of Believe Farms, which supplies sweet potatoes to the Hi-Lo chain of supermarkets, said it was about six months after applying for a lease that she was notified that it had been approved. She said this was after she provided documentation for the financing of the venture and a market for her produce, as required by Agro-Invest.

Hamilton said it was only after writing to then Minister of Agriculture Pearnel Charles Jr that her lease was approved.

“They were just giving us the runaround … . If we had got the land that we needed at the time we would be way ahead right now,” said Hamilton, who farms 22 acres of land in Clarendon and St Thomas.

CEO of Agro-Invest Vivion Scully said the application process usually takes two to three months, as long as all the necessary documentation is in place.

“We have a pretty transparent process in which the applications are done online. They are reviewed internally by a lease committee and forwarded to another lease committee of the board (of Agro-Invest), which reviews and approves them,” said Scully.

“It takes anywhere between eight and 12 weeks … . We follow the government guidelines as it relates to the offloading of public property to private interests. It is also reviewed by the Integrity Commission as well,” he said.

Agro-Invest defines an agro park as an area of intensive agricultural production that spans the value chain, from pre-production activities (land clearing, access roads, irrigation, and drainage) to production, post-harvesting and marketing. A production zone is a large parcel of land on which farming is done in structured groups to improve processes and productivity.

In January this year, Minister of Agriculture Floyd Green announced that 25 per cent of the land in agro parks would be designated to women, youth and persons with disabilities. The National Youth Policy defines ‘youth’ as someone within the 15-29 age range.

The main crops produced at the Agro-Invest facilities are sweet potato, pumpkin, cassava, hot pepper, scallion, onion, dasheen, corn, banana/plantain and coconut.

The agency said cattle invasion, labour shortage and natural disasters such as hurricanes are the main challenges for the farmers. It is exploring the development of a task force to address the problem, but has also worked with farmers to erect fencing.

Regarding the labour shortage, Agro-Invest says it is on a drive to mechanise the parks to reduce the need for manpower. The programme has started at Ebony Agro Park in Clarendon, to include ploughing, bedding, rotovating, and the laying of plastic mulch.

More machinery is needed, such as tractors, transplanters, harvesters for root crops, mechanical weeder, electrical harvester carriers, and drones for chemical applications, such as pesticide and fertiliser, Agro-Invest noted.

On the question of hurricanes, Agro-Invest said it is “actively preparing for the hurricane season to get ahead of any system that may make landfall on the island. We have identified risk areas on the parks, and we have a schedule for infrastructure development/improvement to mitigate the risks”.

luke.douglas@gleanerjm.com