Minister of Agriculture Dean Jonas said that the modern agricultural technology that is being used by the Chinese will greatly assist Antigua and Barbuda in food and nutrition security.
Minister Jonas made the remarks during a tour of the Green Castle Agricultural Station today (Thursday). The Green Castle station is the main experimental unit that is being used by the Chinese in the Agricultural Technology Cooperation Project between Antigua and Barbuda and China , which began in May last year.
According to Minister Jonas, Antigua and Barbuda can be self sufficient in specific food crops and he is grateful to the People’s Republic of China for allowing the Yuan Longping High-Tech Company to share their expertise with the people of Antigua and Barbuda.
Minister Jonas said that the ministry is not only on a drive to improve food security but to play a bigger role in helping to reduce the incidents of Non Communicable Disease (NCDs).
“Antiguans and Barbudans suffer a lot from diabetes, heart problems and excess fats in our bodies, so we are hoping that the use of more locally grown vegetables in our diets will help us to control or get rid of some of these NCDs.’ We tend to order most of our foods from overseas and we don’t know how they are grown so right now, we are trying to grow more locally so that we can be self-sufficient.”
Minister Jonas was part of a high level delegation paying a visit to the green castle facility to see firsthand , the level of crop production that is being undertaken as part of the the agricultural technology cooperation project agreement between Antigua and Barbuda and china, and from all accounts, they were very impressed.
He said that equipment are also being sourced as part the project, which also include equipment to set up a Tissue Culture Lab to propagate the best varieties of crops in Antigua and Barbuda. According to Jonas, this will be a big plus for the country in years to come.
The Agriculture Minister believes that Antigua and Barbuda can achieve food security by the end of this project 3-year project. The Chinese are now completing the experimental stage of this joint initiative and the main beneficiaries of the training component will be the farmers and other technical officers.
The agricultural project is an aid package from China to the tune of close 10 million EC dollars. Antigua and Barbuda supports this project through a number of basic commitments.
The Chinese that are on the experimental farm comprise scientists, engineers and other technicians who provide advice, assistance and training.
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Are they gonna give us fake plastic food to kill us off?
China is very kind to the people of Antigua and Barbuda, and I support our friendship with China 100%. The US and EU are not our friends, instead they try push Antigua down. At least China makes an effort with us and cares about our national future, unlike the EU and US. The 21st century will belong to Asia, not the US or the EU, so hopefully Antigua can be more aligned with the Asia-Pacific region in the future!
The way you hype up Chinese involvement and belittle US UK EU assistance puzzles me!..Who is paying for your road project?..also your green initiative projects and Carbon footprint scheme?.Do you see shut-eye on the Carribbean money?.
There is a “Rastaman” and “the_real_rastaman” who post here It gets confusing. Who is the really real one? HELP!
Your comment makes no sense and strays from the point that I made about plastic food. The Chinese help us because the govt pays them money they ain’t doing the shit they do for free. I’m not keen that they will now be a part of our agricultural growth.
Rice made by a machine from potato starch. A high protein meal used the same way as flour made from dried ground insects that was given the approval by “world committee”. Aqua culture products that contain high amounts of Toxic chemicals one of which was used in the second world war as a human exterminating agent. Plants that can be genetically modified to cause illness and DNA damaging effects which pharmaceutical companies can profit from by selling treatments and vaccines. For years the Caribbean has been using mosquito coil…but did anyone ever ask what was in it until recently?. Now a rat poison that contains a chemical so toxic it was banned in the USA and many other countries and had been used in almost every aspect of agricultural from potato,peanut,corn,peas etc production right through to meat production and it poisoned the land crops meat and ground water for decades.
Those cabbage in the picture look pretty good…nothing plastic there.
STOP PRESS
The Chinese was shocked at the level of production in Antigua, as a matter of fact the technology they were using ANTIGUAN farmers did not use those methods any more.
The Chinese had to go back to pack to cone up with a new and different program because the Antiguan farmers were so advanced.
Dis-Hon Minister is not speaking the truth. WE DO NOT NEED ANY CHINY MAN TO TELL US HOW TO PLANT A SEED AND GROW FOOD. WE ALREADY HAVE ALL THE EXPERTISE THAT IS REQUIRED.
THESE MINISTERS KEEP TELLING THE NATION THAT THEY ARE GOOD FOR NOTHING. AND THAT IS HOW THEY MAKE THEIR MONEY ILLEGALLY
Well said!!..I think the minister forgot we were once a slave colony and bred to master agricultural practices and devise methods to solve problems.
As I just posted above, there is a “Rastaman” and “a_real_rastaman” who posts on this site. Are you one person with two names or what? Comrades, it’s confusing. Pleae explain.
@CErmle absolutely no confusion there is a ROBOTIC TROLL and a Rastaman. The troll does it’s job once you respond to it.
They are created to annoy you to respond to their ignorance. DO NOT GET CAUGHT UP, KEEP FOCUSED, HIT THE IGNIRE BUTTON.
Political machinery pay big bucks to companies to host these trolls.
The name came about because this RASTAMAN was to real and had to be countered
Please be guided accordingly…..
This is a wonderful example of socialist solidarity. We help one another. Long Live such Friendship.
Though not mentioned, but included in the photo op, the real story here is the name of the Director of Agriculture: JEDIDIAH
What a powerful name? any special meaning? Who name him? His mother or his father? J-E-D-I-D-I-A-H, MAXIM. WOW!
It’s a Bible name. His father was an elder or minister of Terry Miller’s church years ago. They good people.
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