by WADE GIBBONS

ALL IS NOT WELL with Government's Land for the Landless Programme.

The initiative, which falls under the aegis of the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (BADMC), has been experiencing myriad problems, ranging from marginal farming land and indebtedness, to acts of nature and inability to access loans.

According to the BADMC's 2004 annual report, laid recently in the House of Assembly, tenants placed on private lands continued to perform better than those on state properties.

A major reason for this, the report said, was that only 58 per cent of public lands was arable for crop production.

To make matters worse, some farmers on public lands did not cultivate the land to a "reasonable level of expectation".

However, the report pointed out that difficulties with the production of crops and livestock were as a result of heavy rainfall in the latter part of the year.

Added to this was the inability of farmers to access funding from various financial institutions because of inadequate collateral and bad credit ratings.

Despite the preference for private lands, the BADMC indicated that many of the private properties on offer were unsuitable for crop production.

The reduction in the private lands available to the corporation was attributed to the fact that 40 landlords did not renew covenants with farmers, and in some instances, tenants were tardy in making payments and were evicted.

Last year 120.5 acres at River Plantation in St Philip were initially released on a phased basis, with 23 farmers signing licence agreements.

A further 18 applicants were later interviewed for subsequent placement on other plots there. However only seven started projects.

The BADMC also reported having difficulties at Haggatts, St Andrew, especially in finding people with the aptitude and skills to manage 73.40 acres of orchards.

In Greenland, also in St Andrew, farmers were unable to access water from the dam there because of a problem with water retention.

At Bawdens and Sedgepond plantations, significant portions of land were not cultivated.

At the Pine Basin in St Michael, persistent rains led to grass overtaking most of the plots.

wadegibbons@nationnews.com