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Tonight we report on an impasse in the northern sugar belt between the millers and cane farmers. The Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association has given notice to A.S.R./B.S.I. that it is terminating the commercial agreement. The agreement expires on January nineteenth, 2022 and the B.S.C.F.A. says that it is taking advantage of a clause in […]
Written on August 27, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Featured |
Comments Off on B.S.C.F.A. Terminates Contract with Miller; B.S.I. Responds
Vegetable farmers and stakeholders, as well as buyers, wholesalers and representatives from the Government met today for the National Vegetable Projection Crop Season 2021-2022. The purpose of the meeting was to plan for this year’s planting season. The farmers are planning to plant more of certain crops based on high demands this past year. But […]
Written on August 25, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture |
Comments Off on Farmers Plan for Crop Season 2021-22
African swine fever is a highly contagious hemorrhagic viral disease of domestic and wild pigs, which is responsible for serious economic and production losses. The porcine virus was recently detected in the Dominican Republic, and while it is not present in Belize, the Ministry of Agriculture is wasting no time raising public awareness on the […]
Written on August 5, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture |
Comments Off on African Swine Fever Detected in the D.R., What Does it Mean for Belize?
This morning the Belize Sugar Industries held a virtual session on good hiring practices in the cane farming sector. The event included a review of the contract booklet with the cane farmers and testimonials about how this has impacted their lives on and off the field. Lauranio Rosado, Cane Cutter, N.S.C.G.A. “In the past, […]
Written on August 4, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture |
Comments Off on Sugar Farmers Share Experiences with Contract Booklet
Earlier this month, News Five reported on the dilemma that onion farmers found themselves in when they had problems getting their one hundred and forty thousand pounds of onions on the market for sale. They said it was due to contraband activity that had effectively boxed them out. Well, after our story aired, there was […]
Written on July 29, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture |
Comments Off on Onion Farmers Thank Minister Mai
Minister Mai was more than happy to receive the fuel award and said that the contraband trade is an ongoing problem that his ministry tries to abate through joint efforts of the Police, B.D.F. and Customs Department. And with the contraband of even livestock, the ministry will soon be detecting contraband meat through technology the […]
Written on July 29, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture |
Comments Off on Contraband Detection Equipment Coming
Today, Minister Mai toured the National Fisheries Cooperative on North Front Street in Belize City. His ministry has been getting reports that fishing cooperatives are facing fierce competition from private entities. These have a wider array of marine products and also pay fishers more for their catch. Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture, Food […]
Written on July 29, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture |
Comments Off on Fishing Coop Members Facing Competition
While many of the farmers in the agriculture industry have been vaccinated, today Agriculture Minister Jose Abelardo Mai told News Five that many in the Mennonite community have opted not to take the vaccine. Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture “Most of the farmers I am in contact with, I speak to, have been […]
Written on July 21, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Health |
Comments Off on Mennonite Farmers Not Vaccinated
The A.S.R./B.S.I. group held a virtual launch of the Smart Sugarcane Project today. The three hundred and sixty-five thousand U.S.-dollar project seeks to transform the sugarcane industry through an innovative digital agro-credit, farm service business platform. It integrates the Tower Hill Sugar Mill with credit suppliers and more than five thousand two hundred small farmers […]
Written on July 15, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture |
Comments Off on Smart Sugar Cane Project Launched
This pilot project is being funded by Compete Caribbean Partnership Facility and led by the Belize Sugar Industries Ltd of the A.S.R. Group, in partnership with a number of sugarcane associations and local financial institutions. RIPE.IO is an innovative company which specializes in block chain solutions in agriculture and they have provided the design services […]
Written on July 15, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture |
Comments Off on New Digital Platform Will Streamline Processes for Sugar Industry Stakeholders
Last Friday we told you about the struggles of the onion farmers in Bomba. They reported having roughly one hundred and forty thousand pounds of onions that must be sold within three weeks time. They claim they are struggling to sell their produce because contraband onions are flooding the market. Well, that news report reached […]
Written on July 13, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture |
Comments Off on Minister of Agriculture Investigates Reports of Contraband Onions
Minister Mai says that they have formed a task force to tackle the growing issue of contraband. He also says there will be no importation of onion until the local farmers sell all their produce. Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture, Food Security & Enterprise “When I walked the market on Monday, I met […]
Written on July 13, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture |
Comments Off on No Imported Onions until Local Supply Finishes
And what about other locally produced commodities? Will prices go up? This is a real concern in the agriculture industry. At the last House Meeting, Corozal North area rep Hugo Patt expressed concerns about the cost of fertilizers and what it would mean for the cost of production in the agricultural sector. Today, Agriculture Minister […]
Written on July 13, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture |
Comments Off on Fertilizer Prices Increasing
The contraband produce trade is big business in Belize. But this illicit activity is also taking money out of the pockets of local farmers. Onion farmers, for example, can only cultivate for a certain period of time because that is when climate conditions allow for healthy crops. And so they plant and sell during that […]
Written on July 9, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Featured |
Comments Off on Onion Farmers Facing Losses Due to Contraband
Today, the Belize Agricultural Health Authority confirmed to News Five that there has indeed been a flood of contraband produce on the market, and not just onions. Earlier today, a team of BAHA and Customs officials seized two separate shipments in two trucks at illegal border crossings in Orange Walk. The trucks were carrying illegal […]
Written on July 9, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Featured |
Comments Off on Contraband Produce Intercepted in Orange Walk
While contraband business is booming, BAHA authorities are working with customs and police. They recognize public education and stiffer penalties may be needed to help tackle this growing issue. And contrabandistas are no longer limiting themselves to overland transport. On the Phone: Margarito Garcia, Technical Director of Quarantine Department, BAHA “It is an ongoing […]
Written on July 9, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Featured |
Comments Off on Contraband Vegetables Arriving Even by Sea
Although the northern border is still closed to the average Belizean, a special delegation, led by the Minister of Agriculture Jose Abelardo Mai, went across to Mexico on Thursday. Their purpose was to meet with Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture, Victor Manuel Villalobos Arambula and discuss areas of partnership and cooperation. Those talks focused on agriculture, […]
Written on July 9, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Featured,
Foreign Affairs,
Regional / International |
Comments Off on Belizean Delegation Meets Mexican Secretary of Agriculture
Also present for the meeting was Mexican Ambassador to Belize, Martha Zamarripa Rivas. Policy Analyst with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise, Milagro Matus told the Press Office that this is the first time Belize’s Minister of Agriculture is leading a delegation in Mexico, and that it speaks to a greater interest by the […]
Written on July 9, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Foreign Affairs,
Regional / International |
Comments Off on Mexico Interested in Belizean Products
The data is also used in the agricultural industry, which has been impacted by the changing weather patterns – the long drought and, in that same vein, extensive rainfall experienced over the past few years. It can also help with determining where a pest will reproduce, multiply and cause damage. So in that way a […]
Written on July 8, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Climate Information Use in Agricultural Industry
Over the past two years, flooding and drought have ravaged vegetable fields in the Valley of Peace. Less than a year ago, the country’s largest cabbage producers lost hundreds of thousands of heads of cabbage to floods leaving them struggling to make ends meet. At the time, the Valley of Peace Farmers Association appealed to […]
Written on July 6, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture |
Comments Off on Farmers Get Assistance in the Valley of Peace
About two weeks ago we showed you a group of angry fisherfolk who want G.O.B. to repeal Statutory Instrument fifty-seven of 2021 which was gazetted back in May. According to the fishermen, they were only recently made aware that the Minister of Blue Economy Andre Perez signed the new S.I. which amended the Fisheries Regulations […]
Written on July 5, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Environment |
Comments Off on Tracy Panton Calls For Enforcement of Fishing Laws
The formal exportation of cattle to the Mexican market was further realised today when the process of transporting hundreds of head of cattle to that neighbouring country began. The Mexican government is now accepting livestock from Shipyard, which will now serve as a hub for its exportation. It’s an initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture […]
Written on July 1, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Economy,
Featured |
Comments Off on Shipyard Now Certified to Export Cattle to Mexico
You may be missing conch for a while with the Queen Conch season closed right now, but today the 2021 lobster season officially opened. We head to San Pedro where a group of fishermen just before midday revealed their first catch for the season. Approximately four hundred pounds of fresh lobsters were being cleaned and […]
Written on July 1, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Economy |
Comments Off on 2021 Lobster Season Officially Opens
Is Belize looking to tap into the potential of the global finfish market? That’s just a part of a bigger plan that the Ministry of Blue Economy and its partners have for finfish sector in Belize. While Belize was a primary exporter of some species of finfish over the last several years, there are renewed […]
Written on June 29, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Environment |
Comments Off on Finfish as Export Opportunity
On Tuesday, we reported that fisher folk was up in arms about a decision made by the Minister of Blue Economy to give foreign nationals who have permanent residency in Belize eligibility to fish in Belizean waters. It was legislated via statutory instrument fifty-seven of 2021 on May twenty-fifth and basically reverses a decision taken […]
Written on June 23, 2021 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Environment |
Comments Off on Minister Says S.I. 57 Allows for Inclusion
