Minister Mai Addresses Farmers’ Concerns

Farmers in San Carlos Village, Orange Walk, say they have been facing financial losses as their carrots rot in the fields due to a lack of buyers. This morning, German Tillett, UDP standard bearer for Orange Walk South, told News 5 that local farmers are struggling to sell their crops due to an oversaturated market and fierce competition from contrabanded and imported Mexican carrots. He added that the current import policy is harming local farmers.

This afternoon, the Minister of Agriculture, Jose Abelardo Mai, dismissed the claims of contraband carrots. Mai told News 5 that Belize does not import carrots when there is enough local supply. He said, “This is a matter of supply and demand. The Ministry of Agriculture has never and will never issue importation permits when we are harvesting carrots, when our farmers are. That is a fundamental rule in the Ministry of Agriculture.”

Mai added, “As for contraband, the Ministry of Agriculture does not control contraband. We try to work with customs, immigration… We closed borders. Up to now, we haven’t seen enough evidence of illegal import of carrots because the quality is known.” Mai explained that the carrot issue is seasonal, with all crops maturing at once. This leads to a high supply when sales tend to slow down after the holidays and also attributes the carrot’s short shelf life as a factor contributing to the situation. Mai says that sales are expected to improve in the next two weeks as supply eases.

Minister Mai also announced plans to industrialise the agriculture sector, including an agro-processing facility in Orange Walk to add value to local crops. “We’ve looked at industrialising the sector; we have now moved to a position where we have enough primary production, and it’s time for us to look at industrialising agriculture—carrots is one of them,” Minister Mai stated.