Minister Gobin takes stock of issues faced by planters of garlic at Crève Coeur
Mr Maneesh Gobin, the Attorney General and Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security, paid a site visit at Crève Coeur today to assess the problems facing the growers of garlic. Other notables were Mrs. Subhashnee Luchmun-Roy, Mrs. Joanne Tour, and members of the Parliament.
Minister Gobin emphasized in a statement that insufficient road infrastructure to access plantations, flooding of farms, and chaos caused by monkeys are the main problems. He gave the planters the reassurance that the Ministry will look into the situation and find immediate ways to deal with these problems.
“Garlic is a high-value condiment with an annual consumption of around 2000 tonnes while local production of garlic, amounts to only 50 tonnes annually” he said. The Minister highlighted that due to high production costs and high seed prices, garlic cultivation has drastically declined over the past few years.
In order to increase garlic output, he stated that his Ministry will do all possible to address the problems experienced in a sustainable manner through suitable assistance measures. According to him, the floor price for buying local garlic from growers has been increased from Rs 105 to Rs 130 and from Rs 130 to Rs 150 by the Agricultural Marketing Board.
Minister Gobin also emphasized the need for individual planters to come together under a cooperative or organization in order to further benefit from the equipment and programs already in place that will make it easier for them to conduct their day-to-day operations on fields.