Persons traversing The Valley area may have noticed preparations for a massive agricultural production project on the farmlands of the Department of Agriculture.
The vast amount of highly arable and fertile red bottom land was used for many years as pasture for special breeds of livestock, reared by the department mainly to improve the quality of animals owned by farmers throughout Anguilla. The new initiative is aimed at growing more food for the local market and possibly reducing the island’s import volume and bill.
An interview by The Anguillian newspaper on Monday, January 30, with the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Curtis Richardson, has thrown much light on the matter. “Over the years, as you would know, agriculture has not been given much prominence in Anguilla. I, as the Minister responsible, felt that I should make a significant difference in that regard,” he stated. “I spoke to the Director of Agriculture, [Mr. William Vanterpool], and I am pushing on with the agricultural agenda.
“As you recall, we visited a lot of farms and then did a review of agriculture in Anguilla. We took a document to Executive Council and now have to take it to the wider community and eventually to the House of Assembly.
“Meanwhile, we have decided to utilise the Agricultural Department’s lands that were dormant over the years. We have cut them up into sections and have given them to some of the farmers. A number of them have been paying for land in other places and some of them had two and three farming areas. This undertaking will give them an opportunity to have one large farming area where they can focus all of their efforts.”
Minister Richardson continued: “We are going to have five to six farmers dealing with the farmlands that were not previously cultivated. We will be cutting back on some of the department’s animals. That is because we are having some challenges with the number of animals the Government has under its care. I think we are going to maintain some livestock, but mainly for breeding purposes, for persons wishing to have different breeds of animals. We are trying to cut back on large numbers of animals due to manpower and other needs, and I don’t think we can put any more money into having a successful livestock farm. There will be a programme that will be widely discussed and shared by the Director and other persons in agriculture. It is something that I support. So this ploughing of the land you are seeing is part of the programme to take agricultural farming a little further.”
Asked what proportions of the farmlands were being made available to farmers, Mr. Richardson replied: “I do not have the exact acreages but I think that some people may get two acres, others three acres and so forth. The plots are fairly sizeable.”
The Minister further said: “We had a proposal from a gentleman who wanted to take over all of these farmland s, but I have given my commitment to serve Anguillians first. While I feel that anyone who comes to Anguilla with a project for food production, we should try to facilitate them, but I consider these lands to be sacred for the Anguillian farmers. We felt that rather than giving them to foreigners to develop for us, we should give our local farmers the first preference. I am pleased that a lot of them have taken up the challenge to grow produce here in The Valley area.”
Mr. Richardson explained that the Department of Agriculture was handling the technical details of the new agricultural project. He was of the view that each of the farmers would produce different cash crops for different periods of the year including those with the best yields and fetching the most money. “We will look at a programme where everybody gets an opportunity to grow cash crops, and other types of crops, so that we can have a variety of produce,” he stated.
He further explained that a marketing programme was also part of the document on agricultural production and development. “The aim is to get a strong Farmers’ Association to boost farming from all aspects through the sharing of information and other new strategies,” the Minister added.
The farmers who will be operating on the so-called virgin farmlands have several benefits to their advantage. Because of the years of animal husbandry there, the consequential deposits of manure droppings will contribute to the fertility of the luminous deep soil. In addition, the farmlands are located in the well field which means a considerable amount of water will be available for drip and overhead irrigation. Another benefit is that the farmlands are for the most part fenced thus keeping out stray animals.
