00:00Agricultural consultant Riyad Mohamed says meaningful progress begins with asking difficult questions,
00:07even when doing so may attract unwanted attention.
00:11He argues that scrutiny is essential to determine whether the government's agricultural promises
00:17are producing results for farmers and the wider population.
00:21Even as a voter of a political party, you're supposed to hold them responsible
00:27because you put them in office, you want things to get done,
00:30you need to ask the hard questions.
00:31And what I found, Marlon, is that most people in the agri-sector don't want to ask the hard questions.
00:38They don't want to say anything, obviously, because they're afraid they'll be victimized and stuff like that.
00:42The finance minister has announced plans to develop megafarms in Tobago
00:47as part of the drive to strengthen local food production.
00:50However, Mohamed says the situation on the ground raises concerns
00:55about whether those plans are advancing as intended.
01:19Mohamed also questions whether the country can significantly reduce its food import bill
01:25without stronger support for local producers.
01:28He says encouraging consumers to buy local must go hand in hand
01:33with measures that help farmers increase production
01:36and ensure a reliable supply of locally grown food.
01:39Yes, I know we want to manage that food import bill,
01:43but have we chosen priority commodities to really run after?
01:48And I could go back now and talk about here's what,
01:51that black-eyed peas production experiment.
01:54Nobody heard about that in the mallet.
01:55A couple months ago, everybody talking about it, everybody taking pictures.
02:00Them turning school like that black-eyed bean from Trinidad and Tobago yet,
02:04it's still imported, all the livestock farmers,
02:07they say they had a third feed price that was to go down by,
02:09and they plant in corn on soybean.
02:11I say, well, partner, that's an experiment.
02:13That's what they label it experiment,
02:15and not a business venture that's making financial sense.
02:18The agriculture sector has been allocated $987 million in the 2027 fiscal package,
02:25a reduction of $143 million from fiscal 2026.
02:31Nicole M. Romany, TV6 News.
