The much advertised Agri Expo 2024 officially opened at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain, yesterday and a contingent of disgruntled farmers staged a protest outside the venue.
The farmers, who came from various communities, brought forward the challenges facing the local agriculture sector.
In a GML report, Orange Valley farmer, Sundar Ramsaran criticised the expo, calling it a mockery of the agriculture sector and highlighting that many critical issues affecting farmers remain unaddressed by the Government.
“I am here to highlight the prices of food at this exposition because we see it as a mockery. Farmers have been dealing with flooding, and they haven’t received any compensation,” Ramsaran said.
He added, “Our leases have not been renewed and we’re facing numerous challenges. Periodic losses in many areas are rising, yet farmers continue to spend money. The cost of chemicals is high and they keep investing money repeatedly, only to face more losses.”
Couva North MP Ravi Ratiram, who refers to himself as the Shadow Agriculture Minister, said, “This morning is truly a sad state of affairs for the country, as it has to endure what many are calling a multi-million-dollar ‘puppy show.’
“Farmers refer to it as a ‘big people party’ because many small farmers are being excluded while large companies are highlighted and showcased inside. The farmers came out to demonstrate the issues that have affected them for a long time and have yet to be addressed.”
Ratiram added, “When the last Agri-Expo was held in 2022, a commitment was made by Caricom partners to reduce our food import bill by 25 per cent. However, since then, our food import bill has skyrocketed. It was at $5 billion but according to the last budget presentation, it has now reached $7.3 billion.”
The farmers said they intend to protest outside the expo until its closure.