MINISTER of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Ravi Ratiram is seeking India’s support to revive Trinidad and Tobago’s agriculture sector.

He made the statement during a ceremony on Wednesday at the Ministry of Agriculture’s head office in Chaguanas, where India, through its High Commission, donated basmati rice and edible oil.

The donation from India comes a week before the celebration of Indian Arrival Day, Friday May 30, which marks 180 years since the first indentured labourers arrived in Trinidad.

Ratiram said, “I use this opportunity to lobby His Excellency, to sort of re-establish that technical advisory support that the Government of India would have provided to us in the past.”

He added that local food production has seen “a consistent decline” over the years, pointing to climate change, supply chain issues, land and labour constraints, and economic uncertainty as key challenges.

“But beyond those challenges lie the stories of real people. Farmers planting with uncertainty, small vendors navigating rising costs,” he said.

India’s High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago, Dr Pradeep Singh Rajpurohit, said the donation, which came from the Indian state of Haryana, was meant to introduce locally grown and packaged products by a government agency.

He said, “It may be bigger in the local parameters here. But the idea was to introduce the commodities being grown, cultivated, and packed by a Government-owned agency… and getting into a tangible collaboration in Trinidad and Tobago.”

Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Trade, Investment and Tourism Dr Colin Neil Gosine also spoke at the event, he said the donation will help many families across the country and expressed sincere gratitude for the donation.

Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs, Nicholas Morris, noted the diplomatic importance of the gesture.

“Today that partnership is strengthened by today’s ceremony,” he said.