Onion industry under threat

 

The relevant authorities must seriously look at regulating onion imports, as failure to do so could result in the local onion industry being totally wiped out.
 
Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS), James Paul, said while the weather has been kind to onion farmers helping them to yield excellent crops so far for the year, there are some importers bringing onions into the island, making it difficult for the over 100 local farmers to sell the thousands of pounds of onions they currently have on hand.
 
“We believe Barbados can be self-sufficient in the production of onions, but there are detractors hindering that effort. The farmers have 10 000 pounds of onions, but there are no buyers and we have people still importing onions,” he lamented in an interview with The Barbados Advocate.
 
Paul’s comments came as he suggested that some members of the private sector are acting in a manner that not only compromises the livelihoods of the farmers, but the country in general – taking valuable, limited foreign exchange and using it to import produce that is available in abundance locally.
 
The BAS head is therefore suggesting that the time is ripe to start naming and shaming importers, who he said are “behaving like economic criminals”. He contends that this may be the only way to get a handle on the situation. He made the comments as he charged that it seems that some importers have also gotten bolder, not only are the imported onions making their way onto the fresh produce market to compete unfairly with local onions, but they are supplying government entities with the produce as well.
 
“We have to find a way to deal with this; that calls for regulating the importation of onions,” he maintained.
 
Paul is adamant that efforts must be made to stop these kinds of activities from occurring, as they are in essence sabotaging the country’s economic recovery. As such, he contends that the various sectors in the country must work in tandem.
 
“The private sector needs to understand that as much as they are calling on Government to help with economic recovery, they too have a role to play. We in the BAS have been focused on a value-chain approach for onions, and we have been working with Massy which is willing to take on more, but there are importers undermining that,” he stated.
 
He is therefore calling for all the relevant players to sit down and discuss the situation, with the view of giving the local onion industry a fair chance to excel. (JRT)
 

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