The last license for imported potatoes was issued on January eleventh for two hundred thousand pounds and the final date which those potatoes could have been brought into the country was on January twenty-second, ahead of the start of local production. Nonetheless, Mai’s issue is not only with the importation schedule, he is equally concerned […]
Potato farmers in San Carlos, Orange Walk are worried that thousands of dollars in investments and a huge amount of red potatoes will go to waste. That’s because imported white potatoes from Mexico are still in the local market. In a meeting held in early January, the farmers were told that permits for the importation […]
Opposition Leader, John Briceño, also weighed in on the concerns raised by potato farmers in San Carlos Village. Farmers have complained that they cannot sell their locally grown, red potatoes because the local market is saturated with imported white Mexican potatoes. On Wednesday, C.E.O. in the Ministry of Agriculture, Jose Alpuche, explained that permits issued […]
On Wednesday, C.E.O. in the Ministry of Agriculture, Jose Alpuche, told News Five the ministry is attempting a new approach to assist farmers. Alpuche says they are finding ways to educate the farmers in San Carlos and teach them methods on how to effectively operate in the local market. Jose Alpuche, C.E.O., Ministry of […]
On Tuesday, we reported on the mounting worries of dozens of potato farmers in San Carlos Village, Orange Walk. The farmers are concerned that they will not be able to sell their red potatoes because there is still an abundance of imported white potatoes from Mexico in the local market. The farmers were expecting that […]
Tonight there is growing concern among farmers in San Carlos Village, Orange Walk. Potato farmers are worried that their investment and weeks of hard work will be all for naught because they are unable to sell their products in the local market. Currently, there is a surplus of imported white potatoes from Mexico in the […]
According to Mai, local potato farmers have also been affected by contraband. He says that all relevant stakeholders should come together to prevent the perpetuation of illegally bringing in the vegetable as it affects local producers. Jose Abelardo Mai, Area Representative, Orange Walk South “The good thing about this is that the Belizean potatoes […]
Today, the P.U.P.’s Orange Walk South Area Representative Jose Abelardo Mai took a jab at the Ministry of Agriculture with respect to the concerns of the potatoes farmers. Mai says that the Ministry’s response to the plight of the farmers is nothing short of disgraceful. Jose Abelardo Mai, Area Representative, Orange Walk South “If […]
Banana is one of Belize’s primary agricultural industries, behind sugar and citrus. It brings in millions of dollars every year for the economy through export earnings. But as we’ve reported in the last few years, the industry has undergone several challenges in recent times. The challenges, some natural – like Hurricane Earl in 2016 which […]
In other news in the agriculture sector, Belize exported its first shipment of crude soybean oil to Jamaica last week. The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Commerce announced that this is the first ever shipment of soybean oil to the region. Bel-Car Exports and Imports in Spanish Lookout and Northern Grains Cooperative in Blue Creek, […]
P.U.P. Orange Walk South Area Representative Jose Abelardo Mai is on record speaking on the bad conditions of sugar roads and his concerns over the disbursement of monies earmarked for the rehabilitation of sugar roads in his division. The government allocated three hundred thousand dollars for the upgrading of the roads in the Orange Walk […]
Every year there is some level of public outcry by cane farmers in respect to the deplorable state of sugar roads in the Corozal and Orange Walk Districts. And in recent years, the government has been allocating three hundred thousand dollars for each district to be used for the upgrading of the roads. But annually, […]
The mills at the A.S.R./B.S.I. factory at Tower Hill cranked up this morning to give way to the 2018-2018 sugar cane crop. Production is expected to be in the range of one hundred and forty thousand metric tons for the export market where there is already a surplus of sugar. The millers last year invested […]
The Belize Agricultural and Health Authority and the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization convened yet another round of discussions with stakeholders in the agricultural and health industries. The antibiotic awareness forum looks at monitoring the use and misuse of medicine in humans and animals, which inhibits the growth of […]
According to Drug Inspector Samira Gongora, antibiotic resistance can occur in humans and animals. The long term effect of its misuse can potentially lead to the eradication of the population because it weakens the body’s immune system. Among the presenters today was the registrar for veterinary products, Doctor Joe Myers. Myers gives approval to vets […]
The first annual Tropical Agriculture Conference is being held at the National Agriculture and Trade Show Grounds in Belmopan. The event hosted by Regeneration International and Regeneration Belize commenced with an opening ceremony on Tuesday afternoon and aims to transform Belize into a leading producer of nutrient-rich agricultural products and a showcase for carbon sequestration […]
Chairman of the Sugar Control Production Committee, Doctor Carlos Itza has finally heard from the Chairman of the Sugar Industry Control Board, Gabriel Martinez. But the letter gave him his marching orders. Itza was informed that his post as Sugar Cane Specialist and Sugar Cane Technical Assistant with the Sugar Industry Control Board has become […]
Chairman of the Sugar Cane Production Committee, Doctor Carlos Itza, is speaking out against what he describes as mismanagement at the Sugar Industry Control Board. Doctor Itza is calling into the question the financial status of the S.I.C.B. This is not the first time that concerns over the board’s finances have been raised. In February […]
According to Doctor Carlos Itza, S.I.C.B. manages millions of dollars every year. He says that for the cane farmers to understand the gravity of the alleged mismanagement, an audit should be conducted. Dr. Carlos Itza, Chairman, Sugar Cane Production Committee Mismanagement can take many different roles but I am also speaking deliberate ways of […]
A donation of rice from Taiwan has come under fire from the productive sector. The ten thousand sacks of grain were delivered on August twenty-second to the Minister of Human Development, Anthony Martinez after the three-day visit of President Tsai Ing-Wen. The Taiwanese president was feted at a state dinner, addressed the national assembly and […]
Taiwan’s rice donation on Wednesday has some local rice producers up in arms. This is according to the P.U.P.’s Orange Walk South Area Representative, Jose Abelardo Mai. Mai says he was shocked when he learnt on the news of Taiwan’s ten thousand bags of rice donation to the Ministry of Human Development which falls under […]
Defending Taiwan’s rice donation was Minister Anthony ‘Boots’ Martinez. The Minister says that anyone would prefer cash donation but in this case, the ten thousand bags of rice was donated due to the surplus of the grain in Taiwan. It’s part of the “Taiwan Rice Donation for Humanitarian Relief” project which according to Martinez, the […]
Belize Sugar Industries Limited has acquired a tugboat valued at one point two million Belize dollars. The tugboat now renamed “Shuga Pride” will be used to transport sugar one hundred and twenty-two miles up the New River, down the Caribbean, and to the deepwater port. The purchase of the tugboat is in line with B.S.I. […]
Belize produces rice, but today, a donation of ten thousand bags of rice was made to the Ministry of Human Development, Social Transformation and Poverty Alleviation through the Taiwan Rice Donation for Humanitarian Relief project. Five shipping containers filled with twenty-two pound bags of grain were presented to Minister Anthony ‘Boots’ Martinez at the Port […]
The Belize Sugar Industries has announced that it will invest an additional forty million dollars over the next eighteen months to improve efficiency and further increase value-added production to the benefit of the sugar industry. In September 2017, B.S.I. invested twenty-two million dollars to increase production of value added, direct consumption sugars at its Tower […]
