A&B looks to exporting Mangoes and Avocados

Antigua and Barbuda want to export mangoes and avocados and Chief of Staff in the Prime Minister’s Office Lionel Max Hurst believes the possibilities are strong.

“But they’re finding ways of getting around this. We nevertheless are working on exporting two products avocados and mangoes. And as you know, they are both seasonal”, Hurst said during the weekly Cabinet Press Conference this week.

Hurst says there are enough mangoes in Antigua when they are in season, go export. And while he said the same goes for Avocadoes, there has been some doubt from the public, considering a large quantity are being imported from Dominica

“So, we are seeking ways of ensuring that we can export the products that are exportable and that those that can hardly make the demand for local consumption are sold here in the market,” Hurst said

The plan is to work in collaboration with the Central Marketing Corporation according to Hurst

“The CMC plays a vital role in this…That was its purpose in the first instance. So, we listen to the technicians, and the experts on growing produce, and also, we gauge the markets abroad and what they need. And all these factors go into the decision-making by the farmer to produce a particular crop that can be exported again. Mangoes and avocados are on the list of exports that will likely flow from Antigua into places like Florida,” he added.

Meanwhile, work will soon begin on the Chicken Abattoir, to assist the poultry farmers in butchering their chickens.

Hurst said on Thursday that Antigua and Barbuda has become self-sufficient in eggs but not in chicken meat.

According to him, “more than twenty million dollars are spent each year importing chicken meat from large producers in Brazil, the United States, and elsewhere. It has long been an ambition of the food producers in Antigua to provide sufficient protein-rich food for domestic consumers. Chicken Meat is a favorite of the Antiguan and Barbudan household and every effort will be made to meet market demands, as far as possible,”.

Antigua and Barbuda according to Hurst spent about $20 million a year on importing meats, and poultry meats and the object is to reduce as “much as we can the expenditure of so much of our resources on this single item. And so many farmers are hoping that they can beat the prices that that the goods are sold to importers here in Antigua”.