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VI can market home grown products – Minister

Hon. Pickering is suggesting that VI market it own home grown produce.
Tarts galore at Farmers’ Week.
Tarts galore at Farmers’ Week.
PARAQUITA BAY, Tortola, VI – “The Virgin Islands have a thriving tourism industry, and I am sure that we will recognise that this provides for us a ready market for home grown agricultural products...we have many opportunities that we can access and we need to exploit these opportunities,” declared Minister for Natural Resources and Labour, Dr. Kedrick Pickering at the opening of Farmers’ Week at Paraquita Bay on Friday February 10, 2012.

According to Hon. Pickering, over the Christmas vacation he had the opportunity to have dinner with investors in the Oil Nut Bay project who had a keen interest in learning about guava berry.

“They were here from the northern plains of Canada and they wanted to learn something more about what is unique about the Virgin Islands. We talked about something that is very topical at and around the time of Christmas. They were delighted a few days later after we sent them a small gift of some guava berry syrup and some guava berry liqueur and they thought that was the greatest thing that has happened to them on their vacation,” Hon. Pickering told the crowd.

In light of this, the Minister pointed out that with the Virgin Islands’ tourism product – there is the need to find “ways and the means” to encourage the development of what is unique to the Territory.

“To make sure that we don’t just think simply in terms of the pumpkin and the potatoes but now how we can develop these products, to refine them in a way that is attractive to our visitors. If you have done any travelling in your life, you know that one of the most important things is that when you go to a new country, you want to take back something that is unique to that country.

So we have to change our thought processing, we have to change our approach and our attitude to understand that the way we have done things, it has worked but in a new world we need to have different approaches and we have to develop things that are unique to the country and put them in a position that we can market them to be able to sell to our visitors,” Hon. Pickering added.

The theme for this year’s week is “Celebrating 20 years of BVI culture through agriculture”.

13 Responses to “VI can market home grown products – Minister ”

  • hello (11/02/2012, 10:20) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    just more hot air...
    • love child (11/02/2012, 13:02) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      I must agree 100% with "hello" for NDP said this in 2004 and 2006 and here they go again making these statements!!!! they have said this for years with it never coming to fruition...people do nto be fool
  • Sam (11/02/2012, 16:26) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    These comments are so senseless. What is there to comment negatively about in the statement made by Dr Pickering. Our problem is that we are too negative while we sit waiting for handouts. Then we envy those that we think are making an effort like "MEAD".
    • George W. Tush (11/02/2012, 18:06) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      'sam' tell that to the farmers who catching hell for years and voted for change and tis the same old stroy!
  • weed (11/02/2012, 23:03) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    both vip and ndp have never been serious about the farming sector juts lip service...
  • sweets (12/02/2012, 00:13) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    love to see thoes tarts.... ummmy
  • Right Sed Fred (12/02/2012, 06:03) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Doc got to stop spending so much time in VG wid rich white people dem. Dey like guava berry wine and dey say dey want a new airport too.
  • tom jones (12/02/2012, 14:59) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    this year is the worst ever I have seen it!!!
  • JJ (12/02/2012, 22:52) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    while shopping over the weekend I noticed that only a few of the super markets carry local produce from our farmers..now that is an area government can help improve on. in
    • hello (13/02/2012, 07:09) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      Thats an area that the farmers can improve in, not the government. The farmers need to price and market their products properly instead of crying like babies for government help all the time.


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