Report paints a bleak picture for farming

In its hey-day the island’s agricultural industry covered 3,000 acres and employed 3,000 people.

But today it takes up just 735 acres, of which only 360 acres are actively farmed on a day-to-day basis.

And there are just 18 full-time farmers and 30 part-time farmers across the island.

There has been an 87 per cent decline in agriculture in the last 85 years and according to the author of the report, Aran McKittrick, the industry will disappear completely.

Undervalued

The report, which is 42 pages and took three months to compile, suggests Bermudians place “little to no value on the issue of food security”.

And it states that the agricultural sector has become undervalued and neglected over time.

Mr. McKittrick, a young Bermudian research scientist who has been an active member of the community from a young age, told the Sun that farmers were very concerned that the agricultural industry could collapse.

He added: “In many ways the situation is pretty bleak.

“There is simply not the number of young farmers interested in taking over the profession.

“And there is still a great deal of land out there that could be used for farming but is not.

“A lot of farmers are asking themselves ‘where do we go from here?’

“If nothing is done then the industry dies and we become completely dependant on importers.

“I hope this research serves as a bit of a wake up call to the community.

“People need to take the initiative themselves and do something about the problem we are now faced with.”

The report, entitled The Role of Agriculture in Bermuda’s Future, sets down a number of recommendations to prevent the decline.

Review

These include conducting an up-dated review of the current use and availability of arable land and implementing an environmental economic evaluation of agricultural land.

Mr. McKittrick also suggests providing incentives to encourage farmers to continue to cultivate readily available land and changing planning policy to stop development on any remaining agricultural land.

He added: “Another way of improving the situation would be to create community incentives to encourage community sponsored agriculture and parish farms.

“I hope people take the initiative themselves and look to take advantage of the natural resources there are in Bermuda.

“Parish farms would be a great way for people in the community to get involved in agriculture.”

Mr. McKittrick has already shared the findings of his report with government departments.

And he hopes the revelations contained in it get people across the island talking about agriculture and sustainability.