It was with a great deal of regret that Farmers on the Move noticed the Minister of Natural Resources and Labor very out spoken and, at times, misinformed outburst against organic farming during the press conference for the loan agreement for the green house project on October 30th, 2009.

This display of ridicule came as a great surprise, considering that the minister seemed so keen on our organization's proposal concerning soil-based organic farming during a meeting he held with us on October 15th, 2009.

In fact, in prior meetings the minister assured us that the greenhouse project would be an organic project. For the public record, we feel compelled to defend the practice of organic farming and to correct some of the negative statements espoused so freely by the Honorable Minister of Natural resources last week.

Firstly, the minister suggested that organic farming cannot sustain the British Virgin Islands, which is incorrect. Soil-based organic farming has been the primary means of feeding the entire world for thousands of years.

The BVI fed its population and exported to the USVI through soil-based organic agriculture up until 30 years ago. Also, there are several countries which currently produce high volumes of organic produce, Cuba being one of the best examples.

Secondly, the minister mentioned the problem of pests as a deterrent against soil-based organic agriculture, but this too is misleading. The truth is pests can be controlled through organic pesticides, which can be made locally with ingredients such as neem, garlic, peppers, etc.

Thirdly, the minister suggested that organic farming is unhealthy due to the possibility of disease through manure based fertilization. This, too, is a highly questionable statement by the minister. Manure based fertilization has been around since the beginning of time and has proven to be one of the most effective means of fertilization around.

The minister failed to mention that hydroponics exposes produce to the possibility of water based diseases, which spread more quickly than soil based diseases, and the hydroponically produced food lacks the mineral and nutritional content of soil-based organically produced food.

Organic farmers are continually improving the quality of the soil through composting as opposed to agro-chemical farming which continually degrades the soil. If the BVI started an island-wide composting project, eliminate between 35-40% of the waste-stream going into the struggling incinerator plant.

The truth is organic farming has not been supported by the government. The greenhouse project will receive millions of dollars of finance, technical expertise, water, a huge expanse of land, all of which has been denied to organic farmers to a great degree.

The rehabilitation of the wells, which was an idea suggested by Farmers on the Move, is a good example of this.  Farmers have been crying for water for some time now, but the minister has only now committed to rehabilitating the wells in Pariquita Bay to supply his greenhouses. We surely hope that organic farmers will have equal access to these wells and other forms of government support.

We are embarrassed that the minister has such little regard for the organic movements, which is one of the fastest growing movements worldwide in the food production industry because of its health, environmental, and social sustainability.

We sincerely hope that Hon. Hodge's opinions are not to be understood as those of the whole Government, and we would like to encourage the BVI Government to come forward with an Agricultural Policy that is inclusive and supportive of all types of agricultural techniques that are currently being used in the BVI.  We also call on the government to have more constructive dialogue and a more productive relationship with the disillusioned but resilient farmers.

In conclusion Farmers on the Move wishes to assure the public that we will continue to fight for the right to be able to provide consumers with locally produced “quality” organic food.

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