Minister of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Security, Indar Weir, has described the multimillion-dollar Agricultural Research Park at Dukes, St. Thomas, as “significant” and an opportunity to see how effective partnerships could be created between government and academia.
The project is an initiative of the Government of Barbados, the People’s Republic of China, and is facilitated by the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus.
Speaking during the project’s ground breaking ceremony on March 28, Mr. Weir emphasised the importance of agriculture, which historically has been viewed as an area associated with hard work, minimum pay, and stigma.
However, he stated: “Today, that has drastically changed, partly as a result of rapid technological advancement in the sector, heightened awareness about health, food and nutrition security, a repackaging of our culture, and greater levels of public and private investment.”
The Minister highlighted the need for the sector to quickly embrace available technologies to maintain or even surpass existing production levels, while simultaneously mitigating the negative consequences associated with unpredictable weather patterns. “This ground breaking ceremony, therefore, represents a seminal moment in this country’s story on agriculture,” he maintained.
Mr. Weir expressed his gratitude to all the stakeholders involved in the project, including the Edghill family, for its donation of 28 acres of land; the Chinese government, for funding the construction, and The University of the West Indies, for leading the development effort.
In her address, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley shared the importance of increasing one’s knowledge in the agricultural sector. “There is no way that we can proceed in a world that is facing the existential crisis of climate without better preparing our citizens and ensuring that the knowledge that is necessary for people to continue the practice of good husbandry, and in terms of increasing yields for crops, can in fact be shared with our citizens,” she stated.
Dukes Agricultural Research Park will comprise 13 buildings, as well as 12 acres for agriculture. It will house agricultural and innovation programmes that will be linked to existing science programmes within the faculties of Science and Technology and Medical Sciences in the broad areas of food security and food sovereignty, in addition to value creation from agri-preneurship.