WITH less than 24 hours’ notice, citizens were warned by NFM to brace for a 33% increase in the wholesale price of flour. This is against a backdrop of unending price increases at groceries. Many have gone numb and can’t complain anymore: it’s just too much to process too fast.
Do you remember in April 2020 when Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley assembled a 22-member committee of businessmen, activists and economists to plot a Roadmap to Recovery in response to the Covid19 pandemic? That committee produced a 125-page report (available online), after also seeking out submissions from members of the public.
I made a submission myself to help contribute to the initiate, hoping it would not fall on deaf ears. You see, I come from generations of farmers. Despite being a legal professional, a love of plants remains in my blood. Thus, my contribution was aimed at convincing the committee of the importance of backyard gardening and farming.
Backyard gardening and farming refers to the practice of ordinary persons using any available space in their home to grow and produce crops for personal consumption and to sell the excess. Innovations in technology now allow systems such as vertical farming (growing crops in vertical stacks e.g., using the stacky pots), hydroponic farming (growing plants in water, rather than soil e.g., using PVC pipes) and aquaponics (fish are raised in tanks and the water from the tanks are circulated into hydroponic plants systems, to allow the plants to absorb the nutrient from the fish waste).
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The beauty of backyard farming is that anyone can do it, without the extreme investments required for traditional farming of acres-long open garden lands. Systems are bought, erected and would normally require minimal input before crops are ready for harvesting. E.g., in hydroponics, pumps are used to continuously supply the plants with nutrients. I have been forever interested in these systems myself, but the costs of acquiring e.g., even the plastic stacky pots system are prohibitive and make little financial sense!
I’ve seen statistics stating the food import bill for this country is around TT$5 billion annually! The Road to Recovery Committee did pay some, yet little attention to the importance of investing in backyard farming systems (see for instance, page 45 of 125 of the report). Minister of Finance Colm Imbert is on record saying the government is moving towards making the agriculture sector tax free since at least 2019.
Has this been done? I am yet to see it. I dream of the day when not having a backyard garden or farming system seems to be an underutilisation of one’s home. But this will not happen without incentives. First and foremost, the expense of acquiring these systems needs to be addressed. I believe the people are willing to warmly embrace these technologies to help significantly reduce the food import bill and feed the nation, but addressing the hurdles in place are long overdue. Stay woke Trinidad and Tobago!
Disclaimer:The contents of this article are for general informational purposes only and/or contain the opinions and/or thoughts of the writer only. It does not provide legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship with any reader. For legal advice on your specific situation, please contact an Attorney-at-Law of your choosing directly. Liability for any loss or damage of any kind whatsoever allegedly incurred as a consequence of relying on content in this article is thus hereby excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.
Advantages of Backyard Gardening
WITH less than 24 hours’ notice, citizens were warned by NFM to brace for a 33% increase in the wholesale price of flour. This is against a backdrop of unending price increases at groceries. Many have gone numb and can’t complain anymore: it’s just too much to process too fast.
Do you remember in April 2020 when Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley assembled a 22-member committee of businessmen, activists and economists to plot a Roadmap to Recovery in response to the Covid19 pandemic? That committee produced a 125-page report (available online), after also seeking out submissions from members of the public.
I made a submission myself to help contribute to the initiate, hoping it would not fall on deaf ears. You see, I come from generations of farmers. Despite being a legal professional, a love of plants remains in my blood. Thus, my contribution was aimed at convincing the committee of the importance of backyard gardening and farming.
Backyard gardening and farming refers to the practice of ordinary persons using any available space in their home to grow and produce crops for personal consumption and to sell the excess. Innovations in technology now allow systems such as vertical farming (growing crops in vertical stacks e.g., using the stacky pots), hydroponic farming (growing plants in water, rather than soil e.g., using PVC pipes) and aquaponics (fish are raised in tanks and the water from the tanks are circulated into hydroponic plants systems, to allow the plants to absorb the nutrient from the fish waste).
Paid advertisement
The beauty of backyard farming is that anyone can do it, without the extreme investments required for traditional farming of acres-long open garden lands. Systems are bought, erected and would normally require minimal input before crops are ready for harvesting. E.g., in hydroponics, pumps are used to continuously supply the plants with nutrients. I have been forever interested in these systems myself, but the costs of acquiring e.g., even the plastic stacky pots system are prohibitive and make little financial sense!
I’ve seen statistics stating the food import bill for this country is around TT$5 billion annually! The Road to Recovery Committee did pay some, yet little attention to the importance of investing in backyard farming systems (see for instance, page 45 of 125 of the report). Minister of Finance Colm Imbert is on record saying the government is moving towards making the agriculture sector tax free since at least 2019.
Has this been done? I am yet to see it. I dream of the day when not having a backyard garden or farming system seems to be an underutilisation of one’s home. But this will not happen without incentives. First and foremost, the expense of acquiring these systems needs to be addressed. I believe the people are willing to warmly embrace these technologies to help significantly reduce the food import bill and feed the nation, but addressing the hurdles in place are long overdue. Stay woke Trinidad and Tobago!
Copyright © 2022 Neela Ramsundar, LL.B (HONS), L.E.C is a Civil Litigation Attorney at Law & Certified Mediator.
Disclaimer: The contents of this article are for general informational purposes only and/or contain the opinions and/or thoughts of the writer only. It does not provide legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship with any reader. For legal advice on your specific situation, please contact an Attorney-at-Law of your choosing directly. Liability for any loss or damage of any kind whatsoever allegedly incurred as a consequence of relying on content in this article is thus hereby excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.