By KC Soares, ContributorOVER THE past thirty years I have been making suggestions on how to improve the agriculture sector. These suggestions have been met with mixed reactions from those directly involved and from the policy makers. Some of these suggestions have even been ridiculed.
Take for instance, the matter of ackees. In 1988 I suggested that we should have large acreages of ackees. Most people thought that I was crazy. Now the United States of America has lifted the ban on ackees and in so doing has opened up an almost inexhaustible market for this commodity.
This development has not only attracted the interest of Jamaica as other countries such as Mexico, Costa Rica and Belize are now growing ackees for the USA market.
LUCRATIVE USA MARKET
We would have been way ahead if we had planted ackees 15 years ago as now we would be cashing in on the lucrative USA market. Instead, we are now scrambling around trying to get people interested in planting ackees. Having laid most of the ground for having the USA accept ackees, we have been caught napping. Clearly, our administrators lacked foresight.
In 1973 I suggested that we should gradually phase out sugar cane and bananas and instead cultivate corn. I do appreciate the problems associated with the growing of corn but at that time I suggested that the Scientific Research Council should come up with a hybrid that is adaptable to our soil types and climatic conditions.
I presented at the time a flow chart showing the benefits that are expected to accrue from growing corn. Corn forms the basis for most, if not all, animal feeds. With corn being grown here animal feeds are expected to be cheaper. Cheaper foodstuffs should result in cheaper meats. With cheaper meats on the market more people should then be able to afford adequate intakes of protein.
With more protein eaten a healthier labour force is expected. Healthier people tend to be more productive which should result in increased productivity at all levels in the society.
Consider also the by products of corn. The main ones are, cornmeal, corn oil, cornstarch, corn syrup, and cornflakes. Some of these items are used daily by a large percentage of Jamaicans. Where does it all come from? It is all imported. If we should produce our own corn not only will there be massive savings on foreign exchange and increased productivity but there should be a boom in the agro-industry sub-sector. A great number of the workers laid off from sugar cane and bananas may then be absorbed in this sub-sector. Incidentally, I am not proposing that all sugar cane lands should be taken out nor am I proposing that we should stop growing bananas entirely.
As I have said in a previous article, sugar cane should only be grown to support two factories - Worthy Park Estates, (to produce sugar for the domestic market) and Appleton Estates (to produce rum for both domestic and export markets). Similarly bananas should be grown to support domestic consumption and the local banana chip industry. I think we should seriously consider this proposal of substituting corn on sugar cane and banana lands.
We have not been taking the initiative of doing things ourselves but prefer to rely on the advises of foreign agricultural "experts". We are the ones who should find solutions to our problems. We are capable but often overlooked by the powers that be as it is commonly felt that what is foreign is better. Consider the story below.
In years gone by, Trinidad produced a lot of cocoa. This cocoa was exported to England where it was processed into chocolate and sold back to Trinidad. There was a great difference between the price of the cocoa and the price of the chocolate.
FEASIBLE FOR TRINIDAD
It then occurred to Trinidad that they would be better off if they processed the cocoa themselves. They decided to do a feasibility study and contracted the services of an expert from England. The English expert after spending a few months in Trinidad concluded that it would not be feasible for Trinidad to process cocoa.
The same study was done shortly after by the University of the West Indies and you guessed it - the findings showed that it was extremely profitable to process cocoa. Whose interest was this English expert defending?
In closing, I am suggesting that we consider the planting of corn on structured basis. This should be done in collaboration with the Scientific Research Council and local expertise in agriculture.
K. C. Soares is a former banker and is now a business consultant with Soledad Financial Services Limited. E-mail: soledad@netcomm-jm.com.
