Authorities moved on Tuesday to reassure the public that Barbados will not face a chicken shortage during the CARIFESTA XV arts and culture festival, following concerns over a disrupted shipment of hatching eggs and increased demand from festival crowds.
Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society James Paul explained that concerns first arose after an issue with a recent shipment of hatching eggs. With CARIFESTA attracting thousands to the island, he stressed that a plan with the Ministry of Agriculture is in place to guarantee adequate supplies of chicken.
“As far as I’m aware, there is no crisis in the industry,” he said. “We had a meeting, I think a week ago or two weeks ago, in which we anticipated that there might have been a problem because of an importation gone wrong in respect of hatching eggs. And there were steps taken to address that issue.
“An agreement was made to bring in some poultry, whole birds, in order to ensure that the market will be supplied. So, as it currently stands, as far as I’m aware, there is no issue.”
Five containers of frozen chicken, carrying approximately 25 000 kilogrammes each, are being imported from the United States to stabilise the market. Paul confirmed that had the importation not happened, consumers would feel the impact by September.
There are three registered hatcheries: Chickmont Foods Ltd, Gale’s Hatcheries, and a third, Hatch An Egg, which Paul said is temporarily out of production but expected to resume operations soon. The shipment affected the operations of the main supplier, Gale’s.
Paul said: “We are hoping, of course, that when they come back into production, things will stabilise and farmers will not experience issues. What consumers must note is that we have to anticipate issues and problems. And what I can say is that at this point in time, measures have been put in place to ensure there are no issues going forward in the industry.”
President of the Barbados Egg and Poultry Producers Association (BEPPA), Stephen Layne, also noted the egg shipment that sparked concern.
“I attended a meeting at the Ministry of Agriculture, and I overheard… they said that a shipment of hatching eggs had a challenge where they were too cool during the shipment and it would have impacted the hatchability of the eggs,” he said.
Layne explained that this mostly affected smaller farmers, many of whom were unable to get the chicks they ordered, but stressed that the setback should soon be corrected.
Reports received by Barbados TODAY also revealed that some small farmers who did receive chicks were dissatisfied with the growth rate of the birds.
When contacted, Managing Director of Gale’s Agro Products, Barry Gale, acknowledged the disruption but maintained “there is no crisis in the industry”.
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb
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