The Government is reporting tonight that Jose Mai, the Minister of Agriculture, Food Security, and Enterprise, completed a 2-day tour of the Orange Walk District last Friday. It's part of his familiarization visits to the different agricultural communities and areas across the country.
This tour started on Thursday, May 13, with the handing over of vegetable seedlings and the inspection of the Carmelita Government School's tilapia ponds. The tour then continued at the G&B Ranch. This is a cattle operation in San Estevan which seeks to improve the current genetics of the different breeds of cattle found in Belize.
Then, on Friday, Jose Mai and his team traveled to the villages of San Carlos and Indian Church. The ministry then awarded 2 onion selectors to the New River Farmers' Cooperative Society Ltd. of San Carlos. These selectors are designed to separate onions and potatoes into different sizes. Also donated were 2-inch hoses for irrigation and mulching plastics to conserve water by reducing evapotranspiration. Farmers from the nearby Indian Church also received irrigation hoses and plastic mulch. The ministry donated a greenhouse to Las Orquidias, a women's group from Indian Church, for their vegetable production.
Mai and his Agriculture team then traveled to Blue Creek, where they were welcomed by the chairman and the business community. He was awarded tokens of appreciation from various members of the community. He then toured the Caribbean Chicken production facility in the village. The day later ended at August Pine Ridge, where the 3 Farmers of the Year 2020 were awarded heifers or young female cows.
As you heard, Minister Mai visited various communities in the Orange Walk, including farmers from Prime Minister Briceno's constituency. That's when our colleagues from CTV 3 caught up with the PM, and they asked about his government's renewed focus on agriculture as a major driver of the economy. Here's what he had to say about last Thursday:
The PM accompanied Minister Mai on his trip to San Estevan, and PUP's Kevin Bernard accompanied him on his visit to Carmelita.
Mai will visit the Corozal District this week to complete his tour of Belize.
