AGROFEST will be focussing next year on the role of agriculture in reducing non-communicable diseases (NCDs).Chief executive officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS), James Paul, said this was one of the innovations for the 2011 agricultural exhibition.“One of the things we haven’t done in the past is make the connection between agriculture and health. In a period where we are talking a lot about NCDs, we think it is about time we show the role agriculture can play in reducing NCDs in this country, and we are going to bring that theme to Agrofest next year,” he said.Paul, speaking to the media yesterday at the BAS headquarters, The Grotto, Beckles Road, St Michael, said the ministry had already marketed Agrofest regionally and were now looking to have it marketed internationally as part of the tourism product.“One of the things I have spoken to the Minister of Tourism about is that when we promote Barbados overseas, especially in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, to see the extent to which they could also promote Agrofest,” he said.Paul said they were also seeking to increase participation, especially from the fruit and vegetable exhibitors as well as cattle exhibitors.“We are looking to see if we can change the presentation for that [fruit and vegetables displays]. We are not satisfied we are doing as much as we can.“We were also a bit disappointed last year with the level of participation of the cattle farmers, but that was because of the fact there were real challenges they were facing at the time with the drought. So we are hoping to see increased participation next year,” he said.(CA)
