Now is the time!

Kelvin Pierre is convinced that now is the best time for the development of the poultry industry in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Pierre, an agriculture science teacher at the St. Vincent Technical College and a past agricultural officer, is the coordinator of a project which seeks to develop the poultry industry here.{{more}} Pierre’s project comes after the poultry industry encountered some trouble such as the large scale dying of birds in 2006.

According to Pierre, the rejuvenation of the poultry industry will mean less dependency on importation of chicken parts and the strengthening of the agricultural sector. Pierre added that he thinks that this is the right time to start the project as the rising cost of poultry would make the project difficult to approach in the future.

According to Pierre, in 2008 over $22 million was spent on the importation of chicken parts.

Pierre added that The Ministry of Agriculture, CED (Centre for Enterprise Development) and ECGC (Eastern Caribbean Group of Companies) have expressed interest in working with him to inform farmers about the project to get them on board as well as to set up facilities to produce the chickens.

Pierre says that he hopes that computerized pens with temperature control and feeding enhancements can be procured to make the raising of the birds more efficient. Improvements of slaughtering facilities, the establishment of a new hatchery and the establishment of slaughtering facilities are also small projects dictated in the project appraisal.

With the implementation of the project, Pierre hopes that enough birds will be produced to fully meet the demand of the country.(OS)