Since 2002 over $23 million dollars in loan financing to farmers has been approved by the Agricultural Development Fund, with over $18 million disbursed to date, says Ferdinand Straughan, the ADF’s Investment Manager.

Mr. Straughan said that poultry farmers had received loans for the implementation of wind tunnels and similar advancements, while about $2.5 million had been loaned to vegetable farmers for setting up greenhouses. Loans have also been made to smaller farmers involved in sugar cane, pork and sheep farming.

$2 million has also been provided through the ADF to establish a pilot project at the Home Agricultural Station for research, production and training in the use of greenhouses and hydroponics systems.

Mr. Straughn said local farmers who invest in new technology and improve production, can help reduce the competition for land in Barbados, and he is urging Barbadian farmers to capitalise on the available funding in order to make their operations more up-to-date and as a consequence improve their production capacity.

His comments came during a recent panel discussion which addressed the topic ‘Investing in Agriculture for Food Security’.

He said the use of new technology in the field might also attract the younger generation of farmers, who, he said, are not at present interested in getting into the field aspect of agriculture.