Nibbs outlines main targets for 2017

The minister of agriculture has listed more storage space for farmers, boosting the availability of local meat, and peanut production as his areas of concentration for 2017.
Arthur Nibbs told OBSERVER media that he also intends to address the wastage of agricultural produce this year.
“This time around we will be improving on our packing houses so the capacity will be greater so that farmers will produce more,” he said.
He added that the government will also continue to target the Giant African Snail population, with the hope of eradicating the pest which devours the farmers’ crops.
The government has indicated that there was a recent shipment of snail bait to Antigua to be distributed via the Central Marketing Corporation (CMC), as well as investigate the establishment of a bounty system for the collection of snails, that is already being employed by Barbados.
In the area of livestock rearing, he said the government will be introducing artificial insemination in order to “improve the breeds”.
He added that the country has noticeably been importing a lot of meat.
Meantime, in Barbuda, Minister Nibbs said the main agricultural focus will be furthering the development of a peanut farm.
(More in today’s Daily Observer)