January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
'Tax incentives and apprenticeships could help failing industry'
But for decades the Amaral family has tirelessly worked the land providing potatoes, cabbages and all sorts of vegetables for islanders.
The 30-acre holding in Devonshire was the pride and joy of the late farming stalwart Joe Amaral — who passed away earlier this year.
Now his two sons, Tony and Carlos, have taken the reins of the business — but they admit times are hard.
Tony Amaral believes the industry would be greatly helped by tax incentives for farmers and a re-introduction of the apprenticeship scheme.
He said: “There is so much land that could be used for farming in Bermuda but it is just being allowed to grass over.
“That is one of the biggest issues we face today — to be able to access new land for cultivation.
“There is no real incentive for the land to be used for agricultural purposes at the moment.
“I believe that if you have arable land that is not being used you should be taxed at a higher level and there should be an incentive of paying less tax if land is being used for arable purposes.”
Mr. Amaral, 47, told the Sun it was also extremely difficult to get local labour to help on the farm.
He added: “I completed the government apprenticeship scheme between 1980 and 1982 and it did me a lot of good.
“That scheme does not seem to be there these days and fewer and fewer people are interested in becoming farmers.
“That was a good programme and gave you a good start to a life in farming.
“They should re-instate it to get people involved in farming again and stop the decline.
“Of course, farm work is hard and can be back-breaking and we have had some people who don’t last very long on the farm.
“But it is a very important industry in Bermuda and changes need to be made to help it stay that way.”
Comments:
You must login to comment.