Belize Expands Wheat Production Push to Cut Imports

Belize is taking another step toward strengthening national food security, as the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and New Growth Industries today hosted a Wheat Field Day at Central Farm in Cayo District.  The event brought together Minister of Agriculture Rodwell Ferguson, Minister of State Alex Balona, and Senior Advisor Hugh O’Brien, along with farmers and technical partners, to showcase ongoing efforts to expand local wheat production.  For more than a decade, Mennonite farmers in the Lower Barton Creek area have been cultivating wheat on a small scale, despite facing climatic and technical challenges. Now, with Belize spending nearly thirty million dollars annually on wheat and wheat flour imports, the government is intensifying efforts to reduce reliance on foreign supply.  Today’s Wheat Field Day highlighted demonstration plots and research trials being conducted through collaboration with the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, and Brazil’s EMBRAPA research corporation.  Preliminary findings from these trials indicate that Belize has strong potential to produce high-quality wheat locally, a development officials say could significantly strengthen the country’s food security and import substitution strategy.  The Ministry of Agriculture says continued research and farmer engagement will guide the next phase of Belize’s wheat expansion programme.